Birthright Israel officially resumed its programming on July 6, roughly two weeks after evacuating over 2,800 participants due to the Israel-Iran war, and people are excited to get back to visiting.
The first flight from the U.S. took off on July 7, including those participating in Onward internships, volunteer programs, the Excel fellowship and Taglit, the 10-day free trip to Israel.
According to Noa Bauer, Birthright Israel’s vice president of global marketing, the amount of interest in Birthright Israel’s programs and number of participants have stayed steady despite the emergency evacuation in June.
Bauer also emphasized that every schedule is “agile and flexible.”
Ari Taragin, a father from Pikesville whose son is set to go on Birthright in August, told Baltimore Jewish Times that he feels confident in the organization’s ability to keep everyone safe.
“Birthright has had this [program] for a long time with thousands of young adults in the same exact boat and I’m sure they’ll take the necessary precautions or safety measures that they need to,” said Taragin. “Honestly, I’d be far more nervous and far more concerned to [have him take a] semester abroad in Rome, Italy, the U.K.”
Bauer told Baltimore Jewish Times that Birthright Israel has only needed to make minor changes to its safety protocol for its programs. Some of the changes participants can expect is a smaller block radius for nights out during Birthright and not using public transportation.
Another parent from Pikesville, Liz Minkin-Friedman, whose child is now back in Israel after being one of the Birthright participants evacuated last month, also feels confident in the organization’s ability to keep participants safe.
“If they [Birthright Israel] felt that it was safe now, obviously with Israel during this time there’s no guarantee of 100% safety, but I trust the organization, I trust Birthright and Onward,” said Minkin-Friedman. “I feel like they have access to information that we don’t necessarily have access to through the government and through the military … so I felt like if they were confident and felt comfortable resuming that I was comfortable with it.”
Taragin added that Brithright is a life-changing program and for young Jews like his son Jacob Taragin, it’s an opportunity they should jump on.
Jacob Taragin said he doesn’t have much concern about this trip, as he feels the situation with Iran seems to be largely resolved and stories of past trips having to pull out of Israel haven’t had any impact on his expectations.
Minkin-Friedman said that her son Eli Friedman felt safe despite being in Israel during the conflict between Israel and Iran. She added that Birthright organized everything and made sure that participants had access to shelters.
Minkin-Friedman said that her son didn’t go on the trip blindly. He knew about the geopolitical situation and, at 20 years old, the call to go on the trip was fully in his hands.
She said that she was fortunate to have some familiarity with Israel as well and access to information that made her feel more comfortable. Additionally, she thought that Friedman being in Israel during such an important time was a good experience for him.
“I was excited about my son being there during a historic time,” Minkin-Friedman said. “I didn’t want my child to make decisions [not to go on Birthright] based on fear. You make decisions based on information.”
Bauer said that the program currently is better than it has been in years because participants have the opportunity to visit large portions of Northern Israel that previously were not part of the trip.
The brief pause following the evacuations comes during a momentous year for the Birthright Israel program, as it celebrates 25 years in operation.
The organization announced that it is again ready to resume its work on connecting young Jews to the land of Israel going forward.
“We led a historic operation grounded in resilience, responsibility, and care, and now we’re opening the gates to Israel once again,” said Gidi Mark, CEO of Birthright Israel, in a press release on June 30. “Our commitment to connecting Jewish young adults to Israel is stronger than ever, and we expect thousands of participants to arrive from now through the end of the summer season.”
