Published: 14 December 2018
Last updated: 4 March 2024
Why is Birthright on the decline? (Times of Israel)
According to a newspaper survey, the number of American Jews coming to Israel on Birthright programmes is in sharp decline. Naftali Bennett, who heads Israel’s Education and Diaspora ministries, thinks that he has the answer.
In a cabinet meeting held last Sunday he explained that “there is a problem of serious assimilation, and a growing apathy among Jews in the diaspora, both about their Jewish identity and their connection to Israel. That’s the key story and it’s a national challenge.”
There is a great deal of truth in what Bennett has to say, but it’s not the whole story.
Sharp decline in number of American Jews on Birthright trips (Haaretz)
Numbers are down as much as 50 percent in some cases, with providers speculating that disengagement with Israel among young US Jews is part of the problem
Photo: Birthright group (Jewish Agency/Dave Bender)
