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Birthright Israel issued temporary instructions to shop around vendors to avoid parts of the southern region of the country, sources said. The move follows the heightened military situation in the area around the Gaza Strip, including rocket fire from Gaza to southern Israel in recent weeks, and the intensification of the sending of incendiary kites and balloons that caused devastating fires.
Thousands of young Jews from North America and around the world are currently traveling, now at the peak of the end-of-year travel wave due to the summer holidays of the United States. # 39; university. The Israel tours, free for young American Jews, are designed to offer them an intensive 10-day experience to strengthen their connection to their Jewish heritage.
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Without specifying precisely which parts of the country the trips were told to avoid, a Birthright spokesperson stated that "for the moment, minor modifications are made to the daily routes in accordance with our safety instructions" . be approved daily by a "situation monitoring room" managed by the Israeli Ministry of Education in coordination with the Israeli police and the Israeli army and that it would spare "no effort or expense for the safety of our participants.
"The safety and well-being of participants are our main concern and the ongoing priority across our organization," the organization added in a statement. "By closely monitoring the situation, we are constantly implementing the most stringent and comprehensive security measures, far exceeding those of the Israel Security Authority guidelines. deserved to be cautious and conservative, a reputation we have gained over the eighteen years of our program, hosting more than 650,000 participants without security problems. "
Over the years, the program responded quickly to military and terrorist situations, exercising caution and adjusting travel routes when parts of the country were deemed too dangerous.
In 2014, during Operation Protective Edge, the program abandoned almost all of southern Israel's routes: the only place in the south that tour operators could include in their travels during a certain time was a Bedouin village in the eastern part of the Negev. Typically, Taglit-Birthright groups spend several days in southern Israel, often spending a weekend in a kibbutz and half a day at Salad Trail, a convenient farm near the Gaza border.
The same summer, he dropped Tel Aviv routes for the first time after Hamas rocket fire from Gaza targeted that city.
In 2015, as a result of a series of stabbings and bomb attacks in Jerusalem, Birthright canceled group visits to crowded outdoor spaces such as the pedestrianized shopping center of the city. Ben Yehuda Street and Mahane Yehuda Market.
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