Masa cuts funding for yeshivas, religious institutions
Jewish Agency says it is working to get government to match donations
The Masa program has cut all funding to yeshiva and seminary students under the age of 22, citing budget cuts made by the Israeli government and the Jewish Agency, which funds it. Most of the students are from the US, Canada and the UK.
The announcement affects programs beginning in the 2020/2021 academic year, which for yeshivas and seminaries starts on August 21. The institutions were informed of the policy change on Tuesday.
Grants and scholarships for Masa participants in university programs will still be available.
The length of programs subsidized for participants from the former Soviet Union and academic programs will also be affected, Masa said.
“With the significant economic downturn due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the
Jewish Agency and the government of Israel reduced Masa’s budget,” Masa acting CEO Ofer Gutman said.
In response to the report, The Jewish Agency released the following statement: “We want to clarify there is no specific exception in the cuts made to the Jewish Studies program, which is very important to all parties concerned. Unfortunately due to the COVID-19 implications, we are facing a year where we had to reduce and adapt our overall MASA annual work plan and budget, as both the GOI and The Jewish Agency are facing significant budget cuts.
“We therefore had to adapt many of the MASA programs and scholarship models, not
only the Jewish Studies programs.
For the Jewish Studies programs, we have actually created an exclusive arrangement where the GOI will match funding raised by program organizers. We are working, along with their donors, to try and secure this funding, as well as some of the basic support to these participants.
No less important to note is that MASA will provide its special MASA visa to any participant that comes for a semester-year program in Israel, such as any Jewish studies program, regardless if they receive a scholarship from MASA. In this very challenging year,