Birthright guarantees funding through March

CEO of organization to 'Post': There won't be a single cancellation in the winter trips.

birthright  248.88 (photo credit: Taglit-birthright)
birthright 248.88
(photo credit: Taglit-birthright)
Birthright israel informed trip operators on Thursday it had the funds to finance all birthright trips planned through the end of March. The move comes a day after a report in The Jerusalem Post that the organization was approving new trips later and more carefully than in previous years due to fear that the worldwide financial crunch would affect its donations. "The won't be a single cancellation [due to insufficient funds] in the winter trips," birthright CEO Gidi Mark told The Jerusalem Post hours after the announcement was made to operators. The relatively late confirmation - last week birthright informed operators it had yet to confirm funding for the February and March trips - is appropriate considering the circumstances, insisted Mark. "This year we're confirming new trips more carefully [than in the past], because we don't want to have to cancel any. We wait until the money is in the bank," he said. Planning for summer trips, which would already be underway in previous years, "will start after December 31. For financial reasons, many donations only arrive in the last week of the year, and we want to wait to see what we will have available," he said.