Free Trip to Israel • Isralicious

The Unofficial Guide to Sex on Birthright Israel

14 years ago
167 Comments
by wendy in furs
6,671 Views

Registration for Summer 2011 Taglit Birthright Israel trips is right around the corner. Previous applicants can begin their registration on Monday, February 14th at Noon EST and general registration begins on Tuesday, February 15th at 10 am. The Birthright Israel web site is full of information meant to help you prepare for and make the most out of your trip. Often dubbed “Birthrate Israel”, oddly enough, the information you are least likely to find relates to sex. Consequently, as a public service, I put together this little guide to educate the next cohort of Birthright participants about the ways of ahava (love) on their trip.

General Advice
Condoms/Birth Control/STDs: With a GDP of $30,000 per capita, Israel is not considered a poor or developing nation. And yet, in many ways Israel often acts like a third world banana republic. How so? International trademark and copyright laws are rarely enforced. Merchants openly sell knock off name brand products and pirated DVDs – not as much as in the Far East or in Chinatown in NYC but often enough that it’s readily visible. One of the products that often get knocked off are name brand condoms. Usually sold in corner bodegas or makolets, these condoms are unreliable and poorly manufactured. When in Israel, if you plan on being sexually active, only buy condoms from large pharmacies like SuperPharm or better yet, bring a freshly purchased stash from home.

Should the condom break during sex, and you fear an unwanted pregnancy, Morning after pills are readily available over the counter at most pharmacies in Israel. These are effective up to 72 hours after sex and cost about 125 NIS or about $33 each. If you are a woman on birth control and you are about to hook up with an Israeli man, don’t tell him as sometimes Israeli men will latch on to any excuse not to use a condom. Remember, birth control pills do not protect against STDs. And boys? If you manage to hook up with an Israeli woman, while they tend to be more sensible, they too often prefer to ride bareback. Don’t do it. Jews get STDs too!

Other than that, the regular rules apply. Get condoms with spermicide like nonoxynol-9 and if you have to use lube, use a water-based lubricant to avoid damaging the condom.

Sex on the Trip
Now that that’s out of the way, what kind of sex goes on on the trip? While Birthright Israel has a reputation for encouraging hook ups, the reality is not quite as straightforward. On a typical ten-day trip, participants tour from early morning till late at night on most days. It’s a grueling pace and if you factor in late night drinking and 2-3 people to a room, actually being able to have full-on sex is quite challenging. Your typical Birthright Israel participant is many things, but when it comes to getting it on, one thing they are not is uninventive! What then are the chances of and issues related to sex with the sorts of people one is likely to come into contact with on a Birthright Israel trip?

Israeli Soldiers
Most Birthright Israel trips are joined by a group of Israeli soldiers for 5 of the ten days of the trip. Being able to join a Birthright Israel trip is a very coveted privilege in the IDF. Most of the soldiers are close to the end of their mandatory service period and getting a 5-day reprieve from Army food and Army work is fantastic, let alone the opportunity to travel the country in relatively high style while interacting with young Jews eager to learn more about Israel.

For the male soldiers the possibility of uncomplicated sex with their choice of dozens of exotic foreigners serves as added incentive to join the trip. In Israel, being a soldier is a very common thing, but in the eyes of new friends, their otherwise humble service takes on heroic and very sexy dimensions!

But approach with caution. These men, well… boys really, have prodigious appetites, especially if they are in a combat unit. It’s not unheard of for one soldier to hook up with more than one female participant. Furthermore, you ought not underestimate how much more attractive you are to them by sole virtue of your American passport and apartment in the US. You see, it’s not uncommon for young Israelis to take a year or two off after the army in order to travel and/or work in the US. In the ordinary course of events they are willing to do the hardest work while living in cramped apartments shared with other Israelis. Your passport and apartment are the key to a comfortable stay in the US – especially if you live in New York or LA. Yes, they can be that mercenary.

Try not to be swept away by your perception of romance. If you think your interaction with one of these soldiers represents the budding of true love, then take it slowly, gauge their sincerity and don’t rush into anything that might leave you hurt or disappointed. If on the other hand, you just want to fuck an Israeli soldier, then by all means, go for it. But again, be cautious – while Israeli men are rapacious they sometimes form attachments quickly and what you thought was a quickie turns into something else when Shimon soldier starts asking you how many kids you think you’re going to want to have. With him.

And what of the storied sexy female soldiers of the IDF? As you can imagine, the IDF is a very male dominated institution. Its female members often have to deal with unwanted advances from overly macho warriors. This gives them an accelerated understanding of the male species and if you are going to try to make a move on her you better have your very, very best game on. And it will be an uphill battle given that compared to the men she is used to, you are quite literally a child – soft in the middle and tremendously immature. Israeli women are supremely sensible compared to their male counterparts and are not known for their promiscuity. If you manage to get anything off of them, consider yourself a master.

As an addendum, you may meet Israeli soldiers or former Israeli soldiers in bars, cafes or restaurants during or after your trip. If they tell you or even hint that they were in a top-secret elite unit, it’s pretty much guaranteed that they weren’t.

Madrichim
These are your trip counselors. Most trips have one male and one female counselor. Their job is to make sure the trip runs smoothly, that participants are informed of schedules, that everyone wakes up on time and that no one gets too drunk. If they get caught sleeping with a participant, they will be summarily and unceremoniously fired. You may be attracted to their idealism, their knowledge of and passion for Israel or the forbidden nature of a possible dalliance. But do everyone a favor, try to keep it in your pants until after the trip. Participant, madrich “encounters” are discouraged because of their potential to be very disruptive to a trip. A madrich or madricha has to be attentive to the needs of all the participants and their ability to do that is diminished if they are cooing over someone, showing favoritism or if they disappear every night to have sex with the object of their affection. If you do not heed my advice and have sex with your madrich or madricha, please at least exercise extreme discretion for the sake of everyone involved and try not to be clingy or too obvious, ok? But seriously, don’t do it.

Tour Guide
No. If caught they will lose their jobs and be blacklisted.

Medic
They are usually young Israelis recently released from the Army, trying to make a little cash before they begin their University studies. They are usually quiet and reserved and are working in this poorly paying job because they really need the money. If they have sex with a participant they too will lose their job and get fired. Wait until after the trip, extend your ticket and do what you like, but during the trip, leave these people alone.

Bus Driver
No. Are you insane???

Fellow Trip participants
These are usually your safest bet for sex. The shared experience of seeing Israel for the first time creates a strong, albeit fleeting bond which can translate into sex. It will be easier for you to finagle your own room if the person you are fucking is on your trip. And it might even be fun as long as you are aware of the potential pitfalls of vacation sex. That sudden bond you feel with the other person might be artificial, fueled by your shared experiences or by a night of hard drinking. If you do not require substance then it’s ok, but if you think your encounter might be serious, I mean people have married each other after meeting on Birthright, then taking it slow might not be such a bad idea.

Conclusions
That having been said, the outside perception of Birthright trips being giant drunken orgies is actually grossly exaggerated. Based on my large trove of anecdotal evidence and personal experience, the vast majority of people participating in Birthright do not have sex on the trip. The amount of sexual activity taking place may be slightly above average, but not by that much. If you are a guy please know that Birthright sex is not a given – try not to be too disappointed if you don’t score, but do feel free to lie to your buddies back home about how much hooking up you managed – sex sells after all! If you’re a gal, it might be a touch easier for you to have sex but like in all things, nothing good is easy to come by.

Please keep in mind that your Taglit Birthright Israel trip is a brief and unique experience. You should make the most of your 10 days, try to extend your ticket and see a little more of the country. If in the midst of it all, you manage some sex, try to make sure it is good and please make it safe!

wendy in furs
Latest posts by wendy in furs (see all)

You may also like

About the author

wendy in furs

I live and blog anonymously from New York. If my boss knew this was me, I'd be fired in a nano-second. Ha ha! Screw you boss man!

View all posts

167 Comments

  • Ö?retmeniniz kement kullanmak için uygun ve uygun olmayan yöntemler oldu?unu size bildirmi?tir.

  • Veronica thought Matt’s counsel was absurd and opted to ignore it. Despite his good intentions, she couldn’t understand why someone would want to advise something so dangerous that it may lead to death.

  • As the go-to expert in the industry, Josh had been accumulating data for years, but he was trapped conducting dull and time-consuming research with no one else interested in the subject.

  • hi!,I love your writing so so much! percentage we keep up a correspondence more about your article on AOL? I require a specialist on this area to resolve my problem. May be that is you! Taking a look forward to look you.

  • It’s crucial to keep this in mind. I don’t think that love is like pie. The money doesn’t have to go to everyone you know and care about. Giving love is a never-ending cycle of giving and receiving. As long as it isn’t running low, there’s no need to put it off sharing it to others. It’s up to you how much you want to give.

  • https://www.fda.gov/inspections-compliance-enforcement-and-criminal-investigations/warning-letters/disinfect-shield-613716-05062021

    I must thank you for the efforts you have put in writing this blog. I am hoping to see the same high-grade blog posts from you in the future as well. In fact, your creative writing abilities has inspired me to get my own blog now 😉

  • https://www.goconvertfile.com/image-compressor.html

    The very next time I read a blog, Hopefully it won’t fail me just as much as this particular one. After all, Yes, it was my choice to read through, nonetheless I truly believed you would probably have something helpful to talk about. All I hear is a b…

  • I want to go on birthright but have sex with only Palestinian Israelis, as I find them much more fufilling in the bedroom than Hebrew women. What is your advice?

    • So you’ve already had sex with both Palestinian and Hebrew women? Amazing! I suggest you go straight to Ramallah, hang out in cafés and tell the men you meet there that you’d really like to have fulfilling sex with their sisters and daughters. I guarantee you’ll be good and fucked before you know it.

      • another insider comment from a snarky hasbara…i will go elsewhere for good advice

      • another insider comment from a snarky entitiled hasbara…i will go elsewhere for good ideas

      • You literally have to be the most envious and snarky little cuck that I’ve ever met, huh? Just can’t stand the prospect that other men may be having good, safe, and enjoyable sex and that you may not, huh? It must crush your heart to hear that men actually go out and fuck these women. Poor little guy.

  • Thanks for the article. Very useful and inspiring. I’ll make sure to print it up and bring it with me on my Birthright trip.

  • For Israelis worried about government money helping fund trips just pretend the tiny 100 million comes out of the billions in U.S. aid.

  • You have to try Israel all the hot and sexiest girls and guys are there…

  • Odd that most all of the commenters here misinterpreted the article in various ways.

    Broken down to the basics the author writes that:
    – Sex probably ain’t agonna happen.
    – Stories of booze ‘n’ sex is greatly exaggerated.
    – Reputation and reality are diametrically opposed.
    – Don’t come on to certain leaders/employees of your group.
    – If sex does happen, it probably won’t be what you expect, but sex probably ain’t agonna happen.
    – Be safe.

    Stories of Israel as the free-to-be-wild ‘n’ crazy place have been rampant since the Middle Ages… and maybe even before that.

    Those living in the country view the visitors as from outside their group – tribe, moiety, clan – therefore these visitors are condoned (in a way) for sex… In other words, they “don’t count.”

    This is an occasion where for the first time a lot of folks who come from outside aren’t supervised by their parents, and for the first time in their lives can explore outside their perceived and prescribed boundaries. That this is in a place that is far from home and foreign enough to make it easier.
    Making it easier still is the insiders’ efforts that is put into making it safe for the visitors to travel and feel as if they are insiders themselves.

    Just bear in mind that in all cases reputation is far far greater than reality.

  • I was in such a cool trip a few years ago. it is like writing here :).
    as a soldier in combat unit I was jealous in the other soldier who got the chance to have sex in this trips.
    have fun there 🙂

  • while i dont believe that sex is indicative of the overall Birthright experience, there was a couple who got together on the trip i was on.

  • Thank you for this enlightening article, after which I will make sure to never permit any of my children to go to Israel via Birthright. It is hard enough to teach Torah values in the depraved U.S. culture. The last thing I need is for my kids to associate empty sexual experiences with the Holy Land.

    • That’s right, Fabian, it’s better to have your kids associate empty sexual experiences with some American college, say, in the Midwest. Who knows, if they care they might even end up having said empty experiences with someone Jewish.

    • Well Fabian, you seem like a good guy, who went to great efforts to raise his children properly. You’ll never be able to watch them 24 hours a day and at some point you’re going to have to have faith in their ability to do the right thing. That having been said, there are trips designed for Orthodox participants – segregated by sex, whereby all the participants are seminary or yeshiva students and the trips are staffed by unequivocally Orthodox Rabbis etc. I’d hate for your kids to associate empty sexual experiences with the Holy Land and I’d also hate for your kids to not be able to take advantage of this fantastic opportunity. I’d urge you to contact Taglit from their Web site and when the time comes, look into one of the several frum trips they offer.

  • Not to burst anyones bubble, but this birthrighter thing is confusing to me, In Genesis the Ashkenazi Jews are of Japheth, not Shem. Esau was red, the father of Edomites. Ishmael the father of Arabs and Jacob the father of all 12 tribes of Israel including Judah. Thus Jew derives frokm Judah, a Semite. So how can God promise the land of Israel to the house of Jacob, yet Israel is occupied currently by Palestinians (Ishmael) and Ashkenazi Jews(Esau). Neither of these groups were promised Israel, yet Ashkenazi Jews claim birthright to Israel. And anyone who speaks out against this inhabitation is anti semetic, yet they are not Semites. Wake up! Ashkenazi Jews are all converts, none of them originating from Israel. They are Japhethites. There is no justifiable claim to the land of Israel. Woe to those who call themselves Jews and are really a synagogue of Satan. These are facts. Cross reference if you must, but the deception with not continue forever. Soon, the Jews that occupy Israel will be uprooted. They have rejected the living God and will pay unless thety repent. Also sad, is that the Muslims in Palestine have no claim to Israel either. Both are fighting for land that is not theirs. It belongs to Jacob. But Yeshua has promised to return with his prtion of Jacob and rule once again in Israel! By the way i am a real Jew. Read about my people in Deuteronomy 28, all the curses that have come upon my people as a result of idol worship and disobedience. This is the tip of the ice berg.Calling these statements racist is alot easier than reading the word and finding out that everything you have been told about Judaism is a lie. Yeshua is King of the Jews! Now and forever! and the prophesy is not related to the Jews that illegally occupy Israel. It is related to the so called black in merica that was brought here on ships. Thus, this charismatic leader called Anti christ is actually a fake Jew(black). Reminds me of our president who I believe is the false Messiah of revelations. And through him will the world be brought to ruins.

  • Hi, my boyfriend just left to Israel for the 10 day trip. He’s a very handsome man, I trust him but should I be worried? What’s going on over there?

    • My guess is he’ll find some foxy Israeli of Yemenite origin, drop out of school and enlist in the IDF. Don’t worry, though, you will see him in about 3 years.

  • WOW! so apropo…! If you have experienced BIRTHRIGHT, or Taglit,or a UJC mission, etc,
    If you ever served as a “Mission to Israel” group leader, leadership, or if you know a group “Chairperson” or “Co-chair” or clergy please fill out (have them do it) this free survey / feedback here:

    http://bit.ly/Hma7qE

    It will help future tours and groups enjoy. Thanks

  • This article is an embarrassment to the Jewish People. It’s undignified and makes light of Jews having meaningless empty physical relationships, no more higher than cats and dogs.

    We are supposed to be presenting a more sincere, noble, and holy image to the rest of the world.

    Imagine decent Christians reading this. They are reading about the opposite of what the Chosen People are meant to represent.

    Take the high road, Jewlicious, not the lowest common denominator.

  • Wowwww, how would you even know someone had sex unless they said anything? I wasn’t even thinking of romance or sex in Israel…especially since I thought Israeli Jews were Orthodox (for the most part), which brings me to my second question, what about the Orthodox and Hassidic Jews on the trip who don’t even allow premarital sex.

    • Wow Ally. I have a feeling you’re going to benefit greatly from your Birthright Israel trip. You will learn that Israel is a modern, cosmopolitan country populated by both religious and secular people. You’ll find that there are no Hassidic Jews on the trip. Let us know how it went!

  • I did Birthright in 2007. I didn’t really hear about sex much on the trip, although when outside a bar, I got propositioned by a group of 3 street kids, one of whom said something to the effect of loving if I would perform oral on him. While on extension, I was approached twice by men who I think were Arab who very aggresively tried to pick me up, and whom I had a difficult time getting rid of. They didn’t wan to take no for an answer. I think the fact that I was walking around alone at night by myself didn’t help. The oddes thing was when sitting around with a bunch of people crammed into a small hotel room, one participant asked me to join the allegedly upcoming orgy. I asked if he was kidding, and another participant who said she worked at Playboy asked why he would kid about something like that. I said, because it was me he was asking! I mean, what about practicing Orthodox Jew didn’t they get? I said it was time for me to go back to my room. I’m not entirely sure, but I think there might have been one hookup on the trip with a slimeball soldier, the highest ranking soldier on the trip with a major attitude problem and over inflated ego. He was really fake, and seemed to dislike me because of my religiosity. I was the only woman there consistently covered up, except for the female tourguide, another Orthodox woman.

  • lol, on my birthright trip EVERY SINGLE girl on the trip had a boyfriend, and all the israeli girls on the trip were ugly. Fail.

    Buttttt now I live in Israel and there are hot girls everywhere!

  • One of the girls I was rooming with hooked up with our security guy. (I think he may still have been a soldier.) She borrowed my earrings the night they got together, and lost them by the pool at our Jerusalem hotel. She gave me 5 euros for them. Euros. I’m supposed to use this money where? Whatever. I’m glad she had a fun night.

    There were two other hook-ups in our group–one of them a male Israeli soldier with a female American, another an American guy and gal. Given that there were about 36 young people in this group, I think that puts us at a 16% hookup rate. There were a lot of other flirtations, pairing-ups, and various moments of sexual tension, but I don’t think all that many people did the deed.

    I actually consumed almost no alcohol on this trip, mostly because I was so tired, and I kind of thought it was important to learn something about Israel the the next morning when I got up. Now I’m married to an Israeli, so I’m getting my turn to have an American-Israeli romance.

  • It will be true that One cannot ignore the correlation between sex and Israel that exists in the hearts and loins of the tens of thousands of parentally unsupervised diaspora youth that visit Israel every year

  • Thank you for the info Susan. We will make the appropriate changes to the post!

  • Very entertaining post 🙂

    As a sex educator, though, I have to make one correction… Nonoxynol-9, the spermicide that you reference when recommending condoms, has been shown to cause microscopic tears inside the rectum and vagina that could actually increase transmission risk for HIV and other STIs. Many condom manufacturers have stopped making condoms with nonoxynol-9. Your best bet is to get a lubricated condom (lubrication reduces breakage) WITHOUT spermicide.

    Safe travels!

  • Yeah im really broadcasting top secret info here… I just revealed my entire “identity” by writing “Eli” for the username.
    keep living in a movie….

    • Who said anything about top secret info?!? All I said was that the fact that you call yourself what you do just proves that I’m right. Most of this you probably aren’t going to get anyway, so enjoy the movie. You should see Captain America. It’s kind of like you – Based on a fictional character..

  • Now that my daughter has been selected as one of the IDF’s girls to go along on one of these trips, i was rather amused to read this…(and remember well my own trip to israel many years ago as an american 16yr old boy, being awed by the israeli soldiers (seems there were never any cooks or drivers-all were commandos….). At any rate my cute little girl has spent the last 2 years in the field with IDF combat reserve soldiers, fending off the american boys, or choosing a “boy toy” for the trip will be as easy as ordering pizza for her….

  • Hey I am finishing up my service in the IDF and unfortunately I couldn’t participate in the trip because my unit has been pretty active this summer and didn’t approve us.
    Just wanted to say I think the post is really funny. I disagree that the soldiers are attracted to American citizenship + apt in NYC – believe it or not almost everyone has a family relative living in the US so it’s not such a big deal. The rest I totally agree with. I mean after the accurate description of icy Israeli women how are we expected to act when encountering, um, easier prey? Its true oftentimes we expect to score with at least 3 American girls but let’s be fair, many of these girls admit that “fucking an Israeli soldier” was on their birthright to-do list. I want to also stress my heavy agreement with the warning about israeli soldiers claiming to be in elite units. As someone who actually does serve in a special ops team and as a result couldnt join the trip it irks me a bit how all the mechanics, inventory clerks, cooks, and other non-combat soldiers (90% of the idf) claim to be Rambo or 007 or something. A real combat soldier will take pride in his unit regardless of whether its special forces or not, and the guys who are truly in the most elite units of this military are discreet about their position and certainly don’t talk about their activity. So if some chubby wanker tells you he’s in a “secret elite unit” and “can’t talk about it” or “I was recently on a secret mission…” you know it’s crap! Also these units are tiny and everyone knows everyone so ask him for the name of the unit, then say you happen to know someone from there and see how he reacts. If he sticks to his story and says “he probably doesn’t know me” it’s also crap because we know everyone it’s a small place.
    As for the knock-off condoms I didn’t know that! That’s a good tip! Thanks

    • Sorry to burst your buddy there Eli, but if you really were on a “special ops” team, you wouldn’t be broadcasting it here. Who the hell says that they are “special ops”?? Maybe you’re a jobnik in some palsar, if you’re even in the IDF. Anyway, have some respect for lochamim and keep your mouth shut.

    • Sorry to burst your bubble there Eli, but if you really were on a “special ops” team, you wouldn’t be broadcasting it here. Who the hell says that they are “special ops”?? Maybe you’re a jobnik in some palsar, if you’re even in the IDF. Anyway, have some respect for lochamim and keep your mouth shut.

  • Friends

    I have some questions:

    a.
    Is it permissable for a married man Charedi to take another wife, what is the Halacha on this and can it be done in Israel?

    b.
    Is it permissable to have a sex or keep a mistress or indulge in any type of sexual activity?

    I ask because an Orthodox friend of mine who lives outside Tel Aviv, is seeing another woman he met online. His wife doesn’t know nor is he going to leave her but he manages to juggle his time between them. He said it began online and devoloped from chatting, and cybersex to something more meaningful. His mistress if you can call it that is Moslem, single, and knows he is married.

    What is the halachic view over this affair? I was under the impression that extra marital sex with a non Jewish pro was permissible, but he said it’s OK because she is single and a Bnei Noach.

    I disagree with this, What would the Chazal say about this sort of relation, say if she wanted a child or even if not.

    • Mihail –

      If you want a real halachic answer to this question then you need to ask a Rabbi.

    • Mihail? Your friend is a sleazeball, any way you cut it. As for your religious questions, I agree with Tzippy – ask a Rabbi as your questions are totally off topic.

  • This article feels racist to me… Especially the way you talk about Israeli soldiers.

    I found it quite offensive.

  • We all know taglit trip to Israel is hormone journey whether you manage to get laid or not. Sheldon Adelson is paying so who cares how does the bond to Israel is being made. Hormones can work as good bond and body liquids may do better.

  • Ha. I’m Israeli too. I’d just support the comment above and say that no Israeli would even think of using a birthright participant for a trip to the US – it’s not too difficult getting a visa, and most Israelis would rather go to India, Thailand or Australia anyway. Oh, and Shimon is a name for old people, so you’re unlikely to meet a Shimon soldier, and in any case I don’t know where you got that “Israeli men are clingy”: I think this is you projecting. But it’s a funny post nonetheless

  • Face it. Taglit is there to make sure US Jewish community will continue to back up and support the state of Israel as long as the Jewish community in Israel keeps fucking the Arabs – the current AMALEK.

    • Face it. Taglit is there to make sure US Jewish community will continue to back up and support the state of Israel by learning the deep roots of Jewish history and culture in the Land of Israel – something that would behoove the Palestinian Arabs to do as well.

      • A COUNTRY OF PALESTINE DOESN’T EXIST AND NEITHER DO PALESTINIANS. These Arab Fakestinians homeland is in (Saudi) Arabia and that is where they should go.

  • what about sex with Palestinians? somewhere along the way birthright participants may want to enjoy some. Fuck a Palestinian – isn’t it the whole idea?

  • From my own birthright experience, I would like to share one thing in this context:

    I would not say that I was promiscuous during college, but I did enjoy some healthy sex life. Still, my experience in Israel blew my mind away. I always thought that Bedouin men are the most gorgeous and hot men on earth. Now I also know that they can please a girl like on other!

    Fellow JAPs – do yourselves a favor: extend your trip by a couple of days, run to the fields of the Negev and seek those sexy, masculine, men in the sun for some outdoors love!

  • As an ex-Israeli soldier that took a part in taglit-birghtright, everything in the article is so-true. especially – “If they tell you or even hint that they were in a top-secret elite unit, it’s pretty much guaranteed that they weren’t”. lol.

  • So glad to see my tax money is well spent (I’m an Israeli “female” by the way).
    Please spare us your racist comments, you can take your urges to a whore house near where you live- don’t travel around the world trying to turn my home into one.

  • As an Israeli, I have always wondered why 1st world people need subsided trips to a 3rd world (or developing) country. Israeli women have enough problems living in a macho, chauvinistic atmosphere. We do not need reinforcement in that sense. Israel is not a brothel.

    • Ori, the Birthright trips are subsidized by wealthy Americans, not by Israel, although Israel now sponsors Masa.

      I don’t think, based on your and Adina’s comments, that either one of you read the article. Please do so before commenting so we can have a conversation that makes sense. Thanks.

      • Rest assured, I have read this post. Coming to Israel to get laid sounds like a terrible waste of money, donations are hard to come by these days. If that’s the way American Jews feel they can connect their youth to Israel, then – no, thanks.

      • TM: As far as I know, the government of Israel definitely helps finance Birthright Israel.

        Ori: Israel isn’t a third world country. Not by any measure. Birthright Israel isn’t some sex tour. I don’t think the majority of people on Birthright come to Israel to get laid. Israel has much more to offer than just that. You may have read the post but you and Adina clearly didn’t understand it. Better work on your reading comprehension skills.

        • Take a bus in Jerusalem and come back to me with an answer regarding Israel’s development status.
          But hey, what do I know. I only live here.
          don’t blame me for miscomprehension – from the text and the comments it’s impossible to miss out that sex is part of the incentive. By the way, you can better your chances by actually living here, but who wants to live in a 3rd world country.

          • I live on Agripas. Right by the shuk. 6 years. I also travel a lot. I know what third world is. This isn’t it. Here, read this: “That having been said, the outside perception of Birthright trips being giant drunken orgies is actually grossly exaggerated. Based on my large trove of anecdotal evidence and personal experience, the vast majority of people participating in Birthright do not have sex on the trip… Please keep in mind that your Taglit Birthright Israel trip is a brief and unique experience. You should make the most of your 10 days, try to extend your ticket and see a little more of the country. If in the midst of it all, you manage some sex, try to make sure it is good and please make it safe!”

            I think that’s good advice regardless of where or who you are.

          • Ori, have you been to Herzliya, Rishpon, Ramat Gan, Ra’anana, Kfar Saba, Ramat Ef-Al, Northern Tel Aviv or Haifa recently? Last time I checked, I couldn’t miss the gleaming building, houses or the large glass monsters with names like Google, IBM, Microsoft, etc. on them. Israel’s per capita income, life expectancy and general quality of life place it among the world’s top 15-20% countries in all those categories.

            As for sex, it’s hard to miss the fact that these trips are geared for people in their late teens and early twenties, which happen to be the ages when most young people are unmarried, sexually active outside of marriage and therefore likely to be interesting in this, um, activity. So if people assume that sex is going to happen, that is probably more of a natural outcome of the age and availability of participants than what is marketed. If you go through the marketing materials of Birthright partners, you won’t find sex on the menu.

        • ck, I stand corrected. It seems that at some point, the Israeli government began to supplement the contributions for individuals. It seems to be a function of the success of the project and the growing number of participants – the donors couldn’t raise enough to meet the demand.

        • I was actually at an event where Bibi spoke about Israel’s pledge to donate $100 million to Birthright.

          As an Israeli, it really bothers me that my tax money is going to send a bunch of hard drinking, sex-crazed Americans to Israel on a free trip.

          I fully support the idea of Birthright, I think it does amazing things. But I also think it is disgusting that I should be asked to fund it. Taxes here are extremely high and I completely understand that it needs to be this way to support the high costs of the IDF.

          If the government has some money to burn maybe they should think about investing it into the infrastructure of our country instead of buying plane tickets for a bunch of Americans who just want to get laid and get high.

          • Tzippy, come on. Think about it, today’s college student is tomorrow’s business leader, politician, and influential artist. Your money is going toward ensuring that a generation of American Jews who hardly know Israel will get to know it, love it and then expend their energy supporting it. I know it sounds crazy, but it really helps to have the American Jewish community supporting Israel. The second issue is that your tax dollars are being spent by the Israeli government to support many other things which are questionable. For example, ultra-Orthodox Jews who don’t serve in the IDF. At least Birthright money will serve Israel’s long term interests…

          • The vast majority of Birthright Israel participants are neither sex crazed nor hard drinking – they are just your typical 18-26 year old diaspora youth. The money my Israeli government spends on bringing them to Israel is more than repaid when these participants form lifelong attachments to Israel, return for visits and in some cases, move here. Promoting the notion that a strong attachment to the Jewish state is a central and important element of Jewish identity is a good thing as well. Birthright Israel also serves as a feeder to MASA where diaspora youth come to Israel for long term social and educational programs which also serve to strengthen Israel-Diaspora ties. Thank you for making aliya to Israel Tzippy. Thank you for living here and paying taxes. But please don’t lose sight of the big picture.

          • So isrealis offended their tax dollars fund birthright? Well as a US citizen im offended that my tax dollars fund the rest of the world…..isreal being the largest recipient of US federal funding over the years. A reported 3.5 billion in 2015.so is it your tax dollars or mine funding birthright…….

        • 1. The Israeli Government definitely is a major contributor to the Taglit program. Several million dollars yearly.

          2. If Jewlicious (or you) don’t want people to look at Israel as a third world country, posts such as this one shouldn’t be put up. I’m not talking here just about economics, but also mentality. The birthright trip to Israel is meant to be a encounter that allows people to learn more about their heritage, spirituality and a possible personal connection with the Jewish World.

          • You know, if you don’t want people to look at Israel as a third world country, you should run for office and have all your female friends run for office in Israel and have everyone you know vote for the female candidates. Then, once you’re elected, you can write and force the enforcement of laws prohibiting some of the issues going on right now in Israeli society that ARE making people think of it that way.

            Oh, and by the way, people in first world countries hook up all the time.

          • Hi Laurie, we love the work Livnot does and yes, Birthright is indeed meant to be an “encounter that allows people to learn more about their heritage, spirituality and a possible personal connection with the Jewish World” via a 10-day trip to Israel. But try to see this post in its entirety and pay close attention to Wendy’s last paragraph. If Israel doesn’t want to be seen as a third world country then it ought to stop engaging in behavior that is reminiscent of such. There’s nothing wrong in pointing that out in the hopes of fostering improvement.

          • Aw, com’mon. There’s not a single first-world (or second world, or third-world) country that doesn’t have its nutcases running around. The different with Israel is that, for some reason, our nutcases always make the news (they dress so picturesquely, I guess).

            Anyway, I’ll tell you what’s been bothering me about this post.

            It’s the way that the post underestimates the Taglit participants. sure, you’re always going to have people who take advantage of limited supervision to get a little wild and crazy. And for sure, there are some real romances and relationships that have their beginnings on Birthright trips.

            But I meet Birthrighters all the time, and I generally find them to be truly interested in the possibilities that the trip opens up. At least half of the participants say “I’m definitely coming back.” Even if most don’t…..finances, school, and I’m sure a million other things get in the way….when they’re in Israel, something touches them and they want to use the opportunity to learn, to explore what Israel and Judaism means to them.

            This post cheapens the potential of the experience. It treats sex in a sleezy manner and then creates the impression that a BRI trip revolves around, um, not getting caught with your pants down.

            I know that a post that suggests how BRI participants can meet interesting Israelis, ask questions, discuss issues and discover new insights during their trip isn’t as “cool” as a post about sex. However, having met literally thousands of BRI participants over the years, I sincerely believe that it’s a more accurate assessment of what participants are looking for than a Guide to Hooking-Up in Israel.

          • There is another way to look at this post, Laurie. The Birthright experience is multi-faceted. It involves young men and women, almost always unmarried, who are taken on an intense, stimulating experience that usually opens their minds to different ways of looking at themselves and their world. In this environment, it’s extremely likely that one key facet of the experience is going to be attraction to others who are sharing this common experience.

            Rather than viewing this as cheapening the other aspects of this experience, perhaps you should consider this simply a particular way of viewing or discussing a key element in the Birthright experience.

          • Laurie, I suspect you meet mostly Livnot Birthright trip participants who tend to be more serious and mature than the rest – which is a very good thing. Livnot’s program is awesome and unparalleled. As for this post, read as an organic whole, it promotes caution and a serious attitude regarding the trip and what it can provide, besides the possibility of bumping booties. At Jewlicious we’re not organizationally affiliated and we can couch our positive messages any way we like. This post for instance has been accessed nearly 250,000 times. It’s the most popular post on our blog this year. You see a crass post using suggestive language, I see the best publicity Birthright has gotten this year, for free. And the message is positive – make the most of your trip! This is a good thing Laurie.

    • Also as an Israeli, I am offended that you refer to our country as a 3rd world or a developing country. It is neither.

  • hello, i am from Israel actually, and i have to say best article ever ,i just finished serving my 3 years,sadly didnt get to be a part of taglit-birghtright,in most parts this article tells the truth , but no Israeli thinks of hooking up or spending time with a female who will be his ticket in the US or UK, and if you did meet some one like that i am truthfully sorry.
    and gladly kick his ass.

    and for the Israel is poor crap, we aren’t poor at all as ypu might think, actually our prices sadly are much higher then in the us, we spend to much money on the army because of little situation with our not so friendly neighbors,

    have a good day 🙂

  • Hey DeAndre. I’m actually a Jewish African American. I guess that’s not obvious from my icon, but I should probably have specified that.

  • Hey Captain obvious, don’t say “nigger,” even in no example. Being jewish ain’t no exception.

  • Americans have money but do not know how to enjoy life. Israeli kids have less money but take more risks and live life with all their beings and with less worries. Who is happier?

  • Wait a minute. I just got accepted on a Birthright trip. Does this mean I’m not going to get automatically laid??? I’d ask for my money back but the trip is free. What’s really interesting is that my bros were probably lying to me when they told me about all the tail they scored. Motherfuckers. Can I say that on Jewlicious?

    • Does this mean I’m not going to get automatically laid???

      Apparently, you’re going to have to work at it. Good luck.

      As for “motherfuckers,” recently some older members of the Jewish community have come across this post and they are shocked! Shocked, I tell you. So now that they see young Jews using terms like “motherfuckers” on our dainty little site, they are going to be even more shocked. What can you do?

  • It only SEEMS like everyone is getting laid on the trips because people will come home telling story after story about how much sex they had. Nobody’s going to brag about how much sex they DIDN’T have…!

  • This is the most accurate depiction of birthright ever. Hilarious…The whole time I was there i just kept shaking my head and muttering, I was promised a week long drunken orgy. Why do they tell everyone that it’s like that? I wonder if it’s part of the training to get people to go.

    • No that’s not it at all. It’s because guys go there expecting to get laid. They stock up on jumbo sized boxes of condoms and when they inevitably do not get laid, they just lie about it to their friends. Guys lie SO much! I saw one group of guys interacting with a friendly madrichah and by the end of the trip one guy claimed to have “banged” her, another, who I swear looked like a troll was talking about how she wanted to leave Israel and move back to New York with him – he’d be lucky if she did because she was way out of his league – and he was telling his buddies that the “bitch is clingy, she’s nuts if she thinks I’m going to take her back with me.” And all the guys were just babbling about her like she was some piece of trash. The reality was that nothing had happened. At all. The guys were just lying. For the record they were all frat brothers – not AEPI btw. Just total ass hat losers. I’ve led a ton of trips, and I concur with Wendy – the vast vast majority of participants do not have sex.

  • You know what you missed Wendy? The fact that if you do have sex on your Birthright trip, everyone will know. I mean everyone. Including the bus driver. It’s nearly impossible to keep that stuff secret amongst a small group traveling in very close quarters. That’s another thing to consider on when contemplating sex on Birthright – do you want it so badly that you don’t mind all those people having intimate knowledge of your uhm… cummings and goings?

  • I did birthright last year, there were a few ppl who were doing it but waaaaay over exaggerated, although there was a hot soldier who I wouldntve said no to

  • I got back from a Birthright trip last month, and there were a few hookups that occurred- and maybe more that were hiding the fact. By the end, there were 2 couples, including one (male) soldier and an American. This blog seems correct based on what I heard and saw. Just to further confirm, a (female) soldier who became a friend of mine told me the same exact thing that many male soldiers were there to be with women while the women soldiers tended to be there for the Taglit experience.

  • Wow. Really racist. Just imagine if you substituted the word Afro-American for Israeli in this piece.

    • Carl is it? I think this might very well be the dumbest comment I have ever read in the two years that I have been following Jewlicious. What am I saying? I am saying that you are an idiot Carl. Now, if I replace the word “Carl” with the dreaded word “nigger” as in “You are an idiot, nigger” would that be racist? Perhaps. Unless you and I are both African American – then it would be ok, right? Yes. But you’re still an idiot.

  • I don’t know why, but this is now one of my favorite Jewlicious posts ever. Just one comment, if I may. You didn’t leave any room for the sincere and well-meaning Israeli male soldier who is attracted to the foreign, exotic female birthright participant because she’s, uh, special and worth pursuing. Jus’ saying.