April 21, 2011 / 17 Nissan 5771

Support will allow initiative to grow presence of shlichim from 34 to 50 North American college campuses in the coming school year

The Jewish Agency today announced that Dr. Miri and Sheldon Adelson have pledged a gift of $1 million to further expand the Israel Fellows program that operates on college campuses across North America.

The Israel Fellows program of the Jewish Agency, places recent Israeli college graduates in Hillels on North American college campuses to assist with Israel education and advocacy. Expanding this highly successful program in the past couple of years since its inception has been a key goal of the Jewish Agency. Said the Jewish Agency’s Chairman, Natan Sharansky, “in just two years, we have succeeded in expanding our Israel Fellows campus program in North America from 19 to 50 campuses. What started as a small experimental program is now one of the most central stones of our Shlichut (emissary) program. Thanks to the generosity of the Adelsons, we can now fully fund the expansion of this program for this year.”

The Israel Fellows program places outstanding young Israelis on key campuses to serve as North American college ambassadors to the campus community. The program is a collaborative effort between the Jewish Agency for Israel and Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life. Currently operating on 34 campuses, the Adelson’s gift will fully fund this years’ expansion to 50 campuses. The new shlichim will be designated as Adelson Israel Fellows.

The Fellows focus on Israel education and advocacy programming on campus, work with Taglit-Birthright Israel trip participants and returnees, and assist students who choose to explore options for long-term experiential and study programs in Israel.