The cabinet on Sunday approved the allocation of NIS 180 million to connect Diaspora youth to Israel and their Jewish identity.
The grant is part of the government’s NIS 360m. partnership in the Mosaic United two-year project with Jewish philanthropists and foundations around the world.
The funds, approved in a government resolution following the recent Diaspora Week celebrations, will be used to support programs that strengthen Jewish identity and affinity to Israel in the Diaspora and that help bolster ties between Israel and the Jewish world.
“We have witnessed an erosion in relations between Israel and Diaspora Jewry in recent years,” Diaspora Affairs Minister Nachman Shai said following approval of the funding.
“Israel, as the state of the Jewish people, is committed to helping world Jewry face new challenges, including antisemitism and the weakening of connections between Jewish communities themselves, as well as between these communities and Israel,” he said. “We are dealing with the future of the Jewish people.”
Half of the funds will come from the government and half from philanthropic foundations.
The funding will be used to support educational and extracurricular activities focused on Judaism and Israel on college campuses around the world, as well as fund volunteering programs in Jewish communities and the provision of humanitarian aid in the developing world.
The funding will also be used to help Jewish communities impart knowledge about Israel and Zionism and will bring thousands of high-school students to Israel for meaningful educational trips.
The Mosaic United project was launched in 2014. It will now be able to develop projects that will address new challenges facing Jewish communities around the world.