"We will find alternative flights if needed," an organizer said Tuesday after U.S. airlines halted flights to Tel Aviv.

Taglit-Birthright, the group that organizes free 10-day trips to Israel for young Jewish adults, is continuing to send tours to Israel, despite the barrage of rockets flying between Israel and Gaza that caused several airlines to cancel flights to Israel on Tuesday. "We are not canceling any trips at this point," Noa Bauer, Birthright's international vice president for communication and marketing, told BuzzFeed in an email. "We will find alternative flights if needed." Birthright's free trips to Israel have become a popular rite of passage for many American Jews seeking to explore their Jewish identity and connection to Israel — or just to take a free trip. Critics fault the free program for presenting a one-sided view that ignores the politics and historical narratives of Israel's Palestinian neighbors. The tours continue despite the violence that has hit the region this month. Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza on July 8 that has killed more than 600 Palestinians and displaced more than 110,000 people. During the same period, Hamas militants have launched more than a thousand rockets into Gaza, which have sent Israelis scrambling to bomb shelters, but have been largely diffused by Israel's costly Iron Dome, a system that intercepts rockets. Twenty-five Israeli soldiers and two civilians have died. On Tuesday, several U.S. and European airlines suspended flights to Israel after Hamas militants in Gaza fired a rocket close to Israel's main airport, Ben Gurion, outside of Tel Aviv. Birthright said it would find alternative flights for those canceled.

Despite Birthright's persistence, its numbers are still down. Between 30 to 40% of participants who signed up for a Birthright trip in July have canceled in the past 16 days, said Gail Hyman, Birthright's vice president for communication and marketing. Birthright currently has 2,689 participants in Israel, with 224 cancellations, according to Bauer, the vice president of international marketing. Many of the trips planned for July and August also currently have openings. Birthright is still accepting applicants to fill these immediate openings. Hyman told BuzzFeed that Birthright has a "sophisticated state-of-the-art security system," including GPS trackers on each tour bus, and is in close coordination with Israeli security. She declined to elaborate further on the program's security protocols. "Historically we've never canceled a trip," Hyman said, noting a similar decline in participation during previous periods of conflict, like the 2008 Israel–Gaza War. Since 1999, Israel has taken more than 340,000 young adults ages 18–26 from more than 60 countries on a free trip to Israel. Birthright spends $3,000 on each participant, according to Hyman. The organization is funded by a group off philanthropic funds, Jewish communal groups, and the Israeli government, the latter of which provides $40 million a year to the Birthright program, according to Haaretz. Conservative casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, 80, has been a major Birthright funder; he's contributed $180 million since 2007, according to the New York Times. He also notoriously told a Birthright group in 2011 that the Palestinians were an "invented people."

This year Birthright urged participants to post photos and updates on Twitter and Facebook using hashtags like #YoloIsrael. Our birthright group enjoying fun in the sun #YOLOisrael #IsraelExperience Israel Experience@GetMoreIsraelUKFollow Our birthright group enjoying fun in the sun #YOLOisrael #IsraelExperience 4:54 PM - 14 Jul 14ReplyFavorite

Thanking G*d that we are safe and sound at this time and thankful to be protected by the Israeli Defense Force. #Bus196 #TaglitBirthright Maya@mayaarganoFollow Thanking G*d that we are safe and sound at this time and thankful to be protected by the Israeli Defense Force. #Bus196 #TaglitBirthright í ½í´¯ 8:25 PM - 14 Jul 14ReplyFavorite