Jewish Agency for Israel

For over 90 years, the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI) has provided the global framework for Aliyah (“immigration to Israel”) while ensuring global Jewish safety, strengthening Jewish identity, and conveying the voice of the Jewish People to the State of Israel. The Mandel Foundation first began supporting JAFI in 2016 by establishing the Mandel Program for Excellence, which focuses on selection, training, mentoring, placement, and follow-up for young Israelis serving in education, organizational and communal capacities. In 2021, the Foundation supported JAFI’s Lone Soldier Discharge Program, providing counseling and financial support to immigrant soldiers.

Since 2023, the Foundation has provided annual support for Shinshinim, a program for Israeli high school graduates serving in Jewish communities around the world before their compulsory military service. In 2024, a grant of $3 million supported the expansion of JAFI’s Youth Futures mentoring initiative, which has helped tens of thousands of Israel’s most vulnerable children and families through professional mentoring to address challenges such as learning disabilities, poverty, family instability, and mental health. Later that year, a $10 million grant was designated for rebuilding areas impacted by the October 7 attacks through the Project Assurance Fund and Homeownership Accessibility Fund, to bring 1,000 new families to the region and make homeownership attainable. In 2025, a $7.5 million challenge grant was designated for the Campers2Gether program, providing a Jewish camp experience for hundreds of Israeli youth impacted by the Swords of Iron War.

The Foundation has also provided support for JAFI’s efforts to provide humanitarian and refugee aid to those fleeing the war in Ukraine and inhumane conditions in Ethiopia, in keeping with the Foundation’s commitment to building just, inclusive, compassionate, and democratic societies.