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Birthright Jewish project: Our budget has shrunk By Ranit Nahum-Halevy Tags: Israel News, Birthright  "Every dollar we received, we spent in order to connect another Jew with his roots. Our budget was on an enormous upward trend, but it will be smaller next year, partly because of the huge campaign we led in honor of the state's 60th anniversary," said Gideon Mark, the CEO of Birthright, at a conference held in Jerusalem's International Convention Center last Thursday. Birthright, known as Taglit in Hebrew, provides educational trips to Israel for young Jewish adults aged 18-26. "In terms of funding, from today on it is a question mark," said Mark. "Birthright is a success story of the Jewish nation, but to our regret we have not succeeded in guaranteeing the funding for even another two years. We have to struggle every year," he said. Mark expects the contributions of 2009 to drop 38% compared with 2008. Advertisement Birthright organizes 10-day tours of Israel for young Jews from all over the world, in groups including Israeli students and soldiers. Thursday's assembly was in honor of the 200,000 participants who have come on Birthright programs in the last nine years. Even though philanthropists Charles Bronfman, Michael Steinhardt and Sheldon Adelson and his wife, Dr. Miriam Adelson, were in attendance, doubts were expressed publicly as to the future of the Birthright project, in light of the world economic crisis. In 2006 the organization succeeded in raising only $34 million from outside donors, while in 2007, due to a $30 million contribution from the Adelsons, Birthright raised $63 million. In 2008, the Adelsons gave $37 million in honor of Israel's 60th birthday, and the total donations hit $88 million. However, estimates for 2009 are in the $55 million range. Birthright says the trips are "a gift in order to diminish the growing division between Israel and Jewish communities around the world, to strengthen the sense of solidarity among world Jewry, and to strengthen participants' personal Jewish identity and connection to the Jewish people." So far, the Adelsons have given a total of $67 million. The couple also confirmed Thursday that they would keep their promise for $20 million in 2009, adding that they would provide another $10 million in 2010. Former MK Yossi Beilin, one of the founders of Birthright, called the project a "Zionist success story, and I am keeping my fingers crossed all the time since it depends on donations and government funding. I hope the government's contribution is guaranteed, but the donations from the philanthropists depend on the economic situation. For now we are sure about next year, but all the same we are asking ourselves what will happen the year after. We have a problem with some of the contributors, and some of them were hurt by the economic crisis," said Beilin. The media reported last month that Adelson lost over $10 billion (on paper) from the crisis, as shares in his Las Vegas Sands casino lost half their value on Wall Street. Steinhardt, initially the main philanthropist behind the project, admitted a few days ago that he lost $2 million in the Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme. Steinhardt refused to comment on the matter, but he explained that he had invested money with Ezra Merkin, who had then invested it with Madoff. The former CEO of Birthright, Shimshon Shoshani, is still optimistic. He feels that the donors will keep their promises and the funds will arrive. "Despite the economic situation, which significantly affected the donors, they view it as a project that must continue," said Shoshani. "In the short term, it is possible to say that all the project's donors have kept their commitments. Whoever promised a million dollars will give it, and the same holds true for someone who promised $20 million," said Shoshani. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Egypt-Syria rift The Gaza situation demands more than a truce. It demands pan-Arab reconciliation. No Talking Livni rejects offer to contact Hamas via Russia for Gaza truce talks.

Read & React Palestinians: Mother, four children killed in IDF Gaza offensive Responses: 256 Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff: Now IDF is getting personal with Hamas Responses: 84 Aluf Benn: Int'l community giving Israel time to weaken Hamas Responses: 15 Gideon Levy: Whose blood is being spilled in Gaza, and why? Responses: 40 Bradley Burston: To win in Gaza, all Israel has to do is survive Responses: 54 More Headlines 00:46 Sarkozy: Hamas to blame for Gaza suffering 00:12 Israeli soldier killed as IDF deepens Gaza ground operation 01:00 'I'm going in,' IDF soldier told mother hours before he was killed in Gaza 22:42 Livni rejects Russian offer to pass messages on to Hamas 20:28 Four lightly wounded as 50 Gaza rockets pound southern Israel 22:23 Dick Cheney: Israel didn`t seek U.S. okay before Gaza invasion 20:28 Palestinians: Mother, 4 children killed in IDF Gaza offensive 19:39 WATCH: Amid Gaza violence, Israeli and Palestinian doctors save baby's life 19:23 Get up to the minute coverage of the warfare in Gaza directly to your email 19:24 Rocket alert sends New York's Bloomberg running for cover in Sderot 15:03 ANALYSIS / Israel's aim in Gaza is to break Hamas resistance 00:13 Greek demonstrators set banks on fire to protest IDF operation in Gaza 20:57 Knesset panel okays call-up of tens of thousands of IDF reservists 17:59 Peres: No Gaza truce right now, Hamas needs a 'real lesson' 01:32 Madoff victims selling memorabilia of disgraced financier on eBay 20:02 Iranian military commander: Cut oil exports to Israel`s supporters 21:01 Shin Bet Chief: Hamas has eased its demands for Gaza truce with Israel 18:55 EU foreign policy chiefs begin mission to seek Gaza cease-fire 18:08 Report: Hamas holding 2 Israeli soldiers; IDF: No knowledge of report 10:30 ANALYSIS / International community giving Israel time to weaken Hamas in Gaza 10:29 ANALYSIS / Solution to Gaza crisis requires pan-Arab effort Previous Editions Select Day 04 jan 02 jan 01 jan 31 dec 30 dec 29 dec 28 dec 26 dec 25 dec 24 dec 23 dec 22 dec

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