Every year, Jewish American college students are offered a 10-day, all-expenses-paid trip to Israel with the Birthright Foundation. The closely curated tours take them across the country, from swimming in the Dead Sea to visiting the graves of soldiers who died fighting in Gaza, all accompanied by their peers in the Israeli military.

This summer marks the 25th anniversary of the program — and despite Israel’s ongoing bombing, starvation, and shooting of Palestinians in Gaza, it’s touted to be the biggest cohort yet.

Thirty-thousand Americans, aged 18 to 26, are slated to travel to Israel for free this summer, with the cost of their $5,000 trip underwritten by the nonprofit organization.

Birthright claims it is “pluralistic, inclusive, and does not endorse any ideological, party, or religious line.” But the organization receives 27 percent of its funding from the Israeli government and the rest largely from right-wing donors. The top backer is the billionaire Adelson family, who were among President Donald Trump’s biggest donors.

The trips include lectures on geopolitics, history, and advocating for Israel. The Intercept obtained recordings from a Birthright trip in 2024 that makes its ideological mission clear.

“You hear people tell you that the Palestinians are the indigenous people, but the Jews are the real indigenous people of this region,” said Ido Aharoni, a veteran Israeli diplomat, in a speech to the Birthright cohort last year in Jerusalem. “Israel has many problems, but Chicago also has many problems, and New York City has many problems, and Israel’s resilience will be tested.”

And while the organization says it is apolitical, it has been found to have a big impact on its participants, in bringing them closer to Israel and discounting the Palestinian experience.

A study published in May by Brandeis University and funded by Birthright found that last year’s cohort are “much more connected to Israel, and much more likely to identify with the political right.” Birthright participants were also “more likely to provide a counterargument to claims that Israel is committing genocide” after the trip.

This finding comes as younger Jewish Americans become more skeptical of Israel than their parents or grandparents. A study by the Pew Research Center last year found that younger adults tend to express much more negative attitudes toward Israel than older Americans do. Jewish adults under 35 were divided over Israel’s military response to October 7.

Birthright is trying to stop that trend. While it still bills itself as a fun vacation — from swimming in the Dead Sea, going to nightclubs, and visiting markets in Tel Aviv — since October 7, 2023, it has been taking tours on sites associated with the devastation of Hamas’s attack.

Last year’s trip included visits to a winery, yoga, rafting, and riding ATVs, according to an itinerary obtained by The Intercept, but also talks on international relations with former........

© The Intercept