UJIA brings 135 tour leaders to Israel for training

Leaders from a range of Jewish youth groups have spent four days in the north of Israel on educational outings.

The training event, organised by UJIA for movements including BBYO, Bnei Akiva, Ezra Youth, FZY, Habonim Dror, JLGB, LJY-Netzer, Noam, RSY-Netzer, Sinai Youth and Tribe, comes ahead of a record-breaking summer for Israel Tours, with an expected 1,250 Jewish teens participating.

The 135 leaders from both the UK and Israel visited sites including the Atlit Detention Centre, post-Biblical Caesarea and multi-cultural Akko.

Shira Neville from Bnei Akiva said: “It was great to spend time in Israel learning and preparing for what we know will be a fantastic summer. We have enjoyed exploring our connection to Israel and engaging with the other movements.”

Additionally, the leaders explored a diverse range of ideologies represented whilst learning about current affairs in the region.

Josh Kaye from RSY-Netzer said: “Coming together as a collective was a valuable experience and has helped us strengthen our own ideology whilst understanding other youth movement’s perspectives.”

A key aspect of the seminar is preparing the leaders for their legal duty of care and making sure that Israel Tour is a healthy and supportive environment. The leaders took part in several training workshops to help ensure they have all of the tools required to achieve this aim.

Daisy Spalter from FZY said: “This seminar has up-skilled us. We now feel more than ready to inspire, educate, challenge, and keep all our participants safe during the Summer.”

Josh Dubell, UJIA Head of Israel Experiences said: “At UJIA we are proud to bring together leaders from 11 diverse and special youth movements and organisations. It was inspiring to see them working together so that we are all prepared to provide a transformative summer for 1250 young Jews.”

The first Israel Tour group, Bnei Akiva, will depart on July 3rd.