Birthright Israel Announces Inaugural Global Business Summit, Bringing 350 of the World’s Leading Philanthropists and Business Leaders to Tel Aviv This November

Sep 9, 2026 by Susan Rosenbluth

TEL AVIV, Israel (September 9, 2026) – Birthright Israel today announced the inaugural Global Business Summit, a first-of-its-kind, invitation-only gathering that will bring approximately 350 philanthropists, entrepreneurs, and business leaders from around the world to Tel Aviv from November 1-3, 2026.

It is the first time in the organization’s 26-year history that this entire global network of supporters has been convened in Israel in this way, at a moment when questions about Israel’s economy, society, and relationship with world Jewry could hardly be more consequential. Participants will arrive just days after Israelis go to the polls for general elections.

For 26 years, Birthright Israel has been built on a simple premise: there is no substitute for experiencing Israel firsthand. Nearly one million young Jewish adults from 70 countries have taken part in the program to date, traveling to Israel, meeting Israeli peers, and building relationships that cannot be replicated through a screen or a headline. The Global Business Summit extends that same premise to a different audience – the global community of philanthropists, business leaders, and partners whose support has made those nearly one million journeys possible, but who, until now, have never been brought together in Israel as one network.

Unlike a traditional fundraising conference, the Summit is designed around connection rather than presentation. Over three days, guests will not simply hear from speakers – they will engage directly with one another and with Israel itself, through a program that combines high-level dialogue, alumni storytelling, and hands-on engagement with Israeli communities.

The gathering will open with a Gala Evening of Recognition honoring the leadership and philanthropy that have sustained Birthright Israel over the past 26 years, with remarks from Israeli President Isaac Herzog alongside major supporters from Israel and around the world.

The second day will convene some of Israel’s most influential figures in business, technology, finance, public life, and thought leadership alongside international entrepreneurs and investors, including Sir Ronald Cohen, pioneer of impact investing and co-founder of Apax Partners; Dr. Miriam Adelson, leading supporter of Birthright Israel; Eyal Waldman, founder of Mellanox; Amit Krig, NVIDIA-Israel site leader and senior vice president of networking software; former Mossad director Yossi Cohen; investor and ICON founder Yasmin Lukatz; former Microsoft Israel CEO Shelly Landsmann; Dr. Micah Goodman; Yoel Cheshin, entrepreneur and investor; Danna Azrieli Hakim, real-estate developer, and philanthropist; and Angela Homsi, co-founder and president of Ignite Power.

Their conversations will give participants direct access to the founders, investors, and innovators shaping Israel’s next chapter – alongside the stories of Birthright Israel alumni themselves, many of whom have gone on to become entrepreneurs, investors, community leaders, and philanthropists in their own right, demonstrating that a Birthright journey’s impact can unfold over decades, not just the ten days spent in Israel.

The Summit also puts a spotlight on a dimension of Birthright Israel’s impact that is often overlooked: its economic significance. Over 26 years, Birthright Israel has contributed an estimated $2.6 billion to the Israeli economy, as hundreds of thousands of participants have stayed in Israeli hotels, traveled with Israeli guides and tour operators, and patronized Israeli restaurants and businesses – with many returning independently afterward to study, intern, invest, or build companies in Israel. By convening leaders from philanthropy, business, and innovation in the same room, organizers say the Summit aims to surface relationships and ideas that no single organization could manufacture on its own.

“For 26 years, we have brought young Jewish adults to Israel because we believe that experiencing Israel personally creates a connection that lasts,” said Gidi Mark, International CEO of Birthright Israel. “Now we are bringing together the people who made those journeys possible. This Summit is an opportunity for our global community to experience Israel again for themselves, to meet the people shaping its future, and to ask what we can build together for the next generation. It is designed to bring the people behind that record together in one place for the first time – not to talk about Israel from afar, but to be in it.”

“Combining Business and Purpose has been my life mission, and this first Birthright Israel Business Summit is the culmination of 26 years of impact on nearly one million lives and tens of thousands of supporters from around the world. It is our way to give back to our supporters by providing an exclusive and intimate platform for networking, doing business, and doing good together,” said Ethy Levy, VP, Global Resource Development & Partnerships, Birthright Israel.

Organizers say the Summit’s third and final day may prove the most significant. Rather than closing with another panel discussion, participants will leave the conference room entirely for a Field Day that pairs encounters with Israeli innovation and industry with hands-on volunteering alongside current Birthright Israel participants – working directly alongside young adults in communities that Birthright Israel has served since October 7, meeting Israelis where they live and work, and engaging with the country’s ongoing recovery firsthand rather than from a distance.

Nearly one million journeys. Seventy countries. An estimated $2.6 billion in economic activity. And, organizers say, countless friendships, careers, investments, organizations, and acts of Jewish leadership that can trace part of their story back to a first encounter with Israel through Birthright.

Birthright

Birthright Israel is the largest educational tourism organization in the world. Founded 25 years ago with the dream to provide all young Jewish adults with opportunities for transformative and immersive shared experiences in Israel and a foundation for ongoing Jewish connection. Birthright offers multiple short- and mid-length programs in Israel for Jewish young adults.

More than 950,000 young Jewish adults from 70 countries participated in one of the Birthright Israel programs.

The gift of Birthright Israel trips is made possible thanks to an innovative partnership between Jewish philanthropists, Jewish communities and Federations, the people of Israel through the Government of Israel, tens of thousands of alumni, their families, and individual donors from around the world. It is the largest educational tourism organization in the world. Founded 25 years ago with the dream to provide all young Jewish adults with opportunities for transformative and immersive shared experiences in Israel and a foundation for ongoing Jewish connection.