Birthright Israel, which provides young Jews with free trips to Israel, may be unable to pay for thousands of such trips in the summer of 2009 due to financial losses suffered by its largest donor, the Jewish Daily Forward reports.

A $20 million pledge to the group from casino mogul Sheldon Adelson is now in question, and if the money from Adelson doesn't come through — or fundraising doesn't pick up — the organization could face major cutbacks in the number of young people it sends to Israel next summer. To be on the safe side, Birthright is planning its summer trips on the assumption that the pledge will not come through, in which case the number of participants could fall to 5,000 from 25,000 last year.

Launched in 1999, Birthright Israel has become one of the Jewish world's most popular and well-funded organizations. So far this year, the group has spent $110 million and sent about 42,000 young Jews to Israel. Although Adelson has given some $70 million over the past four years to Birthright, both the organization and Adelson are now facing tough times. The market value of Adelson's company, Las Vegas Sands Corp., has dropped 95 percent in the past year, costing him more than $20 billion. And Birthright recently was forced to take out letters of credit from its donors and raise additional gifts to cover the costs of the 14,000 trips it will be sponsoring this winter.

Still, some individuals connected to the organization remain hopeful that Adelson will fulfill his pledge. "These are difficult times, and Mr. Adelson is a man, in my view, of terrific integrity who is under financial pressure," said Michael Steinhardt, a founder and board member of Birthright Israel. "I have every bit of faith that if it's at all possible for Sheldon to [meet his pledge], he will do it."