Some 13000 Jewish youth are expected to come to the occupied Palestinian territories this coming year to participate in Masa Judaization program Israeli daily Maariv announced on Monday.
The Masa program provides Jewish youth the opportunity to participate in over 250 immersive Israeli programs ranging in length from six months to a year which include internships study abroad programs and volunteer opportunities aimed to keep a tight rein on boycott movements across the world.
These experiences also aim to give participants practical academic or work experience while strengthening their connection to the Israeli occupation.
The Masa program is set to be officially launched on October 31st during a ceremony in Occupied Jerusalem with the participation of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Natan Sharansky head of the Jewish Agency.
“The youth arrive to Israel to participate in a wide range of Masa programs from government to economy and culture hi-tech teaching English medicine and more” Liran Avisar-Ben Horin CEO of Masa claimed.
She noted that in addition Masa provides participants with tools to engage in hasbara (public diplomacy) for Israel turning those who take part into informal ambassadors for Israel to the world.
According to a recent survey conducted by Midgam Institute and released by Masa some 87% of Masa participants said they intend to actively work towards strengthening Israel’s image in the world while 81% of participants said their vision of Israel “changed for the positive” because of participating in the project.
More than half 58% of respondents said they would “certainly” act against the Boycott Divestment Sanctions (BDS) movement.
Since its founding in 2004 by the Prime Minister’s Office and the Jewish Agency over 120000 young Jews from around the world have participated in Masa Judaization programs.
