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Birthright Israel Foundation Launches $900 Million Campaign, Calls on Jewish World for Help
A man holds a Torah after Simchat Torah, at Hostages Square, in Tel Aviv, Israel on Oct. 14, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Hannah McKay
The Birthright Israel Foundation, which has afforded hundreds of thousands of Jewish youth all expenses paid trips to Israel, announced on Monday night a new “Generations Campaign” to raise $900 million that will fund 200,000 more trips over the next five years.
The organization, which has brought more than 900,000 participants from 70 countries to Israel, announced the new effort to coincide with the commemoration of its 25th anniversary, noting that it aims to raise $650 million from US donors and secure $250 million in “legacy and planned giving commitments to ensure Birthright Israel’s strength and impact for generations to come.”
“Generations” is already being generously supported, Birthright added, with $130 million raised so far and another $80 million pledged as “legacy commitments” that will sustain the program at a time when Jewish students, facing a historic antisemitism crisis across the Western world, crave a connection to Israel more than ever before.
“Birthright Israel’s extraordinary impact is proven. In just 25 years, it has become a rite of passage for Jewish young adults and a launchpad for lifelong engagement in Jewish life,” Bright Israel Foundation president and chief executive officer Elias Saratovsky said in a statement. “It has strengthened Jewish organizations, helped build proud Jewish families, and created resilient, knowledgeable leaders — the kind our community needs at this historic moment.”
He continued, “Imagine a new generation of Jews standing strong and united, advocating for Israel, raising Jewish families, and connected to one global Jewish community. This is not a dream — it is the world Birthright is creating.”
Birthright Israel co-founder and philanthropist Charles Bronfman, added, “Twenty-five years ago, Michal Steinhardt and I had the audacious idea to offer every Jewish young adult in the diaspora a free trip to Israel, a gift from our generation to theirs. My dear friend, Lynn Schusterman, helped turn this idea into a global movement. Birthright Israel has become a household name … This program belongs to the Jewish people. May it continue to go from strength to strength”
The “Generations” campaign arrives at a challenging moment for the Jewish community in which antisemitic hate crimes see year-on-year increases and anti-Zionists are mobilizing to sever the Jewish people’s connection to their ancient homeland.
According to the results of a recent survey commissioned by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the Jewish Federations of North America, a majority of American Jews now consider antisemitism to be a normal and endemic aspect of life in the US. A striking 57 percent reported believing “that antisemitism is now a normal Jewish experience,” the organizations disclosed, while 55 percent said they have personally witnessed or been subjected to antisemitic hatred, including physical assaults, threats, and harassment, in the past year.
This new reality, precipitated by Hamas’s Oct.7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel, has effected a psychological change in American Jews, prompting firearms sales, disaster planning, and “plans to flee the country.”
Antisemitic incidents continue to feed the impression that such thinking is not only logical but necessary.
Last month, a self-proclaimed neo-Nazi in Missoula, Montana was charged for allegedly assaulting a Jewish man outside a homeless shelter on the second anniversary of Hamas’s Oct. 7 invasion. Michael Cain, 29, was charged with felony malicious intimidation or harassment relating to civil or human rights, and his bond was set at $50,000. He allegedly accosted the victim after identifying a Star of David tattooed on his arm.
Cain also reportedly told the victim that he is a Nazi, initiating an exchange of remarks which ended with a brutal assault replete with kicks and punches. According to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Cain later told police that he is part of a “Fourth Reich” fifth-column cell in the US.
More recently, on Friday, police in Ann Arbor, Michigan, launched a search for a man who trespassed the grounds of the Jewish Resource Center, which serves University of Michigan students, and kicked its door while howling antisemitic statements.
“F—k Israel, f—k the Jewish people,” the man — whom multiple reports describe as white, “college-age,” and possibly named “Jake” or “Jay” — screamed before running away. He did not damage the property, and he may have been accompanied by as many as two other people, one of whom him shouted “no!” when he ran up to the building.
Saratovsky called on the Jewish people to safeguard the diaspora’s access to Israel.
“We need every Jewish person to join us in this effort — to stand together, invest together, and ensure that every young Jew feels proud, connected, and ready to lead,” he said. “Birthright benefits the entire Jewish world, and it must be supported by the entire Jewish world. The Jewish future is up to all of us.”
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
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U.S. Senate candidate from Michigan calls Israeli government ‘evil’ like Hamas
Abdul El-Sayed, a U.S. Senate candidate from Michigan, said in an interview aired Sunday that the Israeli government is as “evil” as Hamas, sharpening his criticism of Israel in the closely-watched Democratic primary.
“Killing tens of thousands of people makes you pretty damn evil,” El-Sayed told CNN congressional reporter Manu Raja on the network’s Inside Politics program. “It’s not how evil is this one versus that one — Hamas: Evil, Israeli government: Evil. We can say both.”
El-Sayed, 41, is a physician and the son of Egyptian immigrants. He is seeking to channel the energy of the 2024 Uncommitted movement, which protested the Biden administration’s support for Israel in the war against Hamas in Gaza. He is also hoping to build on the surprise success of the New York City mayoral campaign of Zohran Mamdani in taking on the Democratic establishment.
He is locked in a dead heat with state Sen. Mallory McMorrow and Rep. Haley Stevens. The primary is set for Aug. 4.
Earlier this month, El-Sayed faced backlash for appearing alongside streamer Hasan Piker, who has been accused of antisemitic rhetoric — including saying that Hamas “is a thousand times better” than Israel. McMorrow, who is married to a Jewish man, and Stevens, who is closely aligned with AIPAC, have both criticized El-Sayed.
In the CNN interview, El-Sayed defended his decision to campaign with Piker, framing it as an effort to reach voters who feel alienated from traditional politics. “My understanding of America is, it’s a place where we have freedom of speech,” he said.
#MISen Abdul El-Sayed on CNN Inside Politics: @mkraju: You said Israeli government is evil. Do you think they’re just as evil as Hamas?
El-Sayed: “Yes, killing tens of thousands of people makes you pretty damn evil. It’s not about how evil one is versus the other. Hamas —… pic.twitter.com/4GfJ5oCtqR
— Jacob N. Kornbluh (@jacobkornbluh) April 19, 2026
The Michigan Senate race is shaping up as one of the starkest tests of the Democratic coalition and how the party navigates policy towards Israel in Congress amid the wars in Gaza and Iran. The state is home to the largest concentration of Arab Americans in the United States.
Last week, 40 Senate Democrats voted to block $295 million for the transfer of bulldozers, used by the Israeli military to demolish homes in the West Bank and Gaza; 36 of them also supported a measure to block the sale of 1,000-pound bombs to the Jewish state. It shattered a previous high of 27 Democrats who backed a similar pair of resolutions of disapproval to block some weapons transfers last year.
Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, who is Jewish, was among those who voted for the measures. In remarks as they announced their votes, Democrats highlighted their opposition to the Israeli government’s policies in the occupied West Bank, the humanitarian situation in Gaza and the war with Iran.
The post U.S. Senate candidate from Michigan calls Israeli government ‘evil’ like Hamas appeared first on The Forward.
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NYC Mayor Mamdani Unveils Major Tax Hike on Unoccupied Luxury Real Estate
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani holds a press conference at the New York City Office of Emergency Management, as a major winter storm spreads across a large swath of the United States, in Brooklyn, New York City, US, Jan. 25, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Bing Guan
i24 News – NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani has officially introduced a controversial new tax targeting secondary residences valued at over $5 million.
The measure, designed to tap into the city’s vast concentration of unoccupied luxury wealth, is projected to generate roughly $500 million annually for the municipal budget.
“This tax is specifically aimed at the ultra-rich,” Mamdani stated, highlighting high-profile examples such as Ken Griffin’s $238 million Midtown penthouse and Alexander Varshavsky’s $20.5 million Columbus Circle residence.
While the city has yet to finalize specific evaluation criteria or the methods for distinguishing primary from secondary homes, the proposal has already become a flashpoint for economic debate.
The move has drawn sharp condemnation from billionaire investor Bill Ackman, who argued that the policy is fundamentally flawed.
Ackman contended that owners of luxury secondary residences contribute significant capital to the local economy without utilizing costly municipal services. He warned that the tax would likely trigger a corporate and high-net-worth exodus to low-tax jurisdictions like Miami, ultimately harming the city’s tax base.
President Donald Trump also entered the fray, denouncing the policy as “totally misguided” and claiming it is “destroying New York.” Trump, whose own extensive real estate holdings in the city could be impacted, argued that such taxation serves only to drive away the international investors who fuel New York’s development.
Implementation remains a significant question mark, as the tax could potentially affect nearly 13,000 property owners, including major figures like Jeff Bezos. Financial analysts point out that many of the city’s most expensive apartments are held through complex offshore structures and shell companies, making the identification and appraisal of these properties an immense administrative challenge for the city.
As the debate intensifies, the Mamdani administration faces a difficult path ahead in balancing its “tax the rich” mandate with the practical realities of New York’s competitive global real estate market.
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Iran Rebuffs Trump Announcement of New Peace Talks, State News Agency Reports
Iran rejected new peace talks with the United States, its state news agency reported on Sunday, hours after US President Donald Trump said he was sending envoys for talks in Pakistan and would launch new strikes on Iran unless it accepts his terms.
Trump posted on Truth Social that his envoys would arrive in Pakistan on Monday evening for negotiations, a timetable that would leave only a day for talks to make progress before a two-week ceasefire ends.
“We’re offering a very fair and reasonable DEAL, and I hope they take it because, if they don’t, the United States is going to knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran,” he wrote. “NO MORE MR. NICE GUY!”
Iran’s official IRNA news agency cited no specific source in its report that Iran had rejected the talks.
“Iran stated that its absence from the second round of talks stems from what it called Washington’s excessive demands, unrealistic expectations, constant shifts in stance, repeated contradictions, and the ongoing naval blockade, which it considers a breach of the ceasefire,” IRNA wrote.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Iran’s rejection of the talks.
Earlier, a White House official said the US delegation would be headed by Vice President JD Vance, who led the war’s first peace talks a week ago, and also include Trump’s envoy Steven Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner. Trump had initially told ABC News and MS Now that Vance would not go.