Birthright Israel was founded in order to ignite a spark and connect Jewish young adults in the Diaspora to the land and people of Israel, as well as to their peers and their community.
Since its inception, Birthright Israel has brought 850,000 Jewish young adults to Israel from 70 countries including 47,000 Canadians. It has also engaged over 120,000 Israelis of the same generation.
Today, Birthright Israel is the premier identity-building experience for young Jews worldwide and longitudinal research has consistently demonstrated its long-term impact on participants relating to Jewish identity and connection to Israel.
Birthright Israel Foundation of Canada was incorporated in March 2001 and began actively fundraising in 2003, to build and expand financial support to ensure that the gift of Birthright Israel will be available to more and more Canadian Jewish young adults today and for years to come.
The Birthright Israel brand (and its array of programs) staying-power is not only evident by the research and evaluation conducted on an on-going basis but also by the fact that we are now welcoming second generation participants who have either one or two parents that we count among our alumni.