After the past two summers saw participation in Israel travel programs plummet — decreasing by some 90% in 2024 — organizers had hoped to see an uptick this year as the war in Gaza wound down and the situation in the country appeared to be stabilizing. The war against Iran has not quashed those hopes — yet — though parents appear to be taking a “wait and see” approach to their children’s summer plans, according to Simon Amiel, executive director of RootOne, which provides vouchers for many Israel travel programs.

“??We don’t have parents telling us that we should be canceling or that they’re pulling their kid out. By and large, the families are saying, ‘OK, we’ll wait and see,’” Amiel told eJewishPhilanthropy late last week, shortly after a meeting with trip providers.

The most common question from parents, he said, is whether the vouchers that their children have earned through RootOne can be used next year instead. “The answer’s yes,” Amiel said. “But that’s the biggest issue that they’re dealing with right now” — not cancellations but potential postponements. 

Israeli and American leaders have indicated a willingness for the strikes against Iran to continue for at least several more weeks, if not longer. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, meanwhile, has said that it “is capable of continuing at least a 6-month intense war.” Shortly after Israel and the United States launched their airstrikes against Iran’s leadership and military infrastructure, the Lebanese terrorist militia Hezbollah joined the fray, firing anti-tank guided missiles, rockets and drones at northern Israel, prompting the Israeli military to launch extensive strikes against the group, including through limited ground incursions into southern Lebanon. 

For now, trip providers do not need to take action, but in the coming weeks, as the three-month airline ticket cancellation deadlines approach, organizers — and parents — will have to decide how to proceed. 

“They’re waiting for the other shoe to drop,” Amiel said. “They’re really hoping that they avoid that, that things wrap up and things will be OK, but they’re already thinking and preparing for a couple of different scenarios, should it come to that.”

RootOne, which launched in 2020, had some 4,500 teenagers registered for summer trips — significantly less than the 7,000 that the organization had hoped to have by this point, but more than in the previous two years. 

“Two years ago, it was under 900 kids… before the [first] Iran war, we were at about 3,500 last year, so those are all good signs,” Amiel said. “[But] when we looked at this thing five years ago, we were hoping by now we’d be at 7,000 kids.”

Amiel noted that in light of the conflicts in Israel over the past two-plus years, the types of families that had signed up for this summer were a self-selecting group that would be less likely to cancel quickly. “By and large, it’s a more connected-to-Israel population, and I think they’re likely far more comfortable with the idea of waiting things out and seeing where things go,” he said.