Group pumps $1m. into Birthright for Russian speakers

The Euro-Asian Jewish Congress announced Thursday that it will invest $1m. in Birthright Israel, in order to enable hundreds of young men and women from the countries it represents to visit.

The EAJC represents dozens of Jewish communities and organizations in Eastern European and Asian countries.

With its donation, it seeks to include more Russian-speaking Jews in the project, many who will be visiting Israel for the first time on the 10-day program.

Since Birthright Israel was started 17 years ago, more than 45,000 Russian speakers participated in trips here, out of an overall total of 600,000 participants from around the world.

Mikhael Mirilashvili, president of the EAJC and deputy president of the World Jewish Congress, said: “This new act will enable hundreds of young people from Russia and other countries to take part in the Taglit project. I am certain their participation in Taglit will strengthen participants’ Jewish identity, will strengthen their communities which are members of our congress and will strengthen the State of Israel as well.

Gidi Mark, director of Birthright, lauded the donation, saying: “With the generous help of Mr. Mirilashvili and the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress, we will succeed in bringing a record number of young people from the Diaspora to Israel this year.”