New Israel Fund

Profile

Country/TerritoryUnited States

Activity

  • Since its founding in 1979, as a political framework following the 1977 Israeli elections that brought Likud to power, the New Israel Fund (NIF) has provided over $300 million to more than 900 Israeli organizations. NIF is headquartered in New York, and maintains offices throughout the U.S. as well as in Canada, the UK, Switzerland, Australia, and Germany.
  • Shatil is the Israel-based “operating arm” of the NIF,” that creates and nurtures coalitions of NGOs, attempts to influence laws and bills in Israel, and holds workshops for staffers of NIF-funded NGOs.
  • Declared objectives: “to strengthen and expand the pro-democracy, progressive forces in Israel” and help “Israel to live up to its founders’ vision.” According to the NIF, the Israeli government and public have strayed from the vision of Israel as a “Jewish homeland and a democracy.”
  • To achieve these goals, the NIF “brings the broad range of civil rights, social justice and religious tolerance issues to the attention” of individuals and institutions, including the media and the Knesset. It presents itself as the “only” group working on such issues, attempting to restore Israeli democracy to its founders’ vision.
  • A common theme of NIF fundraising and campaigning is the supposed “erosion of Israeli democracy.” In September 2016, the Israeli Ambassador to Switzerland refused an invitation to participate in an NIF event, titled “Is Israeli democracy in danger?” The Israeli Foreign Ministry explained that the “provocative” title and NIF involvement were the reasons for the refusal.

Finances

Grantmaking

  • Approximately 10% of grants go to 34 advocacy NGOs active in political campaigns that involve, to different degrees, demonization of Israel, including BDS and lawfare, under the headings of “Human Rights and Democracy;” “Religious Freedom;” “Social & Economic Justice;” “Palestinian Citizens of Israel;” “New Initiatives for Democracy;” and “Shared Society and Combating Racism.”
  • Many advocacy NGOs receive more “donor advised” funds than NIF core grants, suggesting that these donors have a major role in setting the NIF agenda. This also suggests the need for a discussion of the relationship of these donors and their preferred grantees within the NIF network.
  • According to its Funding Guidelines, NIF will not fund organizations that “[p]articipate in partisan political activity”; “advocate human rights selectively for one group over another”; “[e]mploy racist or derogatory language or designations about any group based on their religion, race, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation”; or “[w]ork[] to deny the right of the Jewish people to sovereign self-determination within Israel.”
  • In practice, NIF continues to fund NGOs such as AdalahBreaking the Silence+972 Magazine, and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel that are primarily active in campaigns that contribute to BDS and delegitimization.
  • In press releases, conferences, UN sessions, and submissions to the International Criminal Court, NIF-funded NGOs emphasize unsupported allegations of “deliberate, systematic, and widespread targeting of Palestinian civilians;” “war crimes and crimes against humanity;” and “grave violations of international humanitarian law.”

Progressive Jewish Fund

  • The Progressive Jewish Fund was launched by the NIF in October 2019, as a donor-advised “national progressive Jewish platform from which to make both US and Israel-based grants… to give to organizations – Jewish or non-Jewish – whose values are consistent with NIF’s principles and policies.” In part, this appears to be an attempt by NIF to attract Jewish donors to radical anti-Israel groups, to which local federations had refused to transfer donations.
  • 256 NGOs (27 of which are also grantees under the existing NIF donor-advised framework) received funds through NIF’s Progressive Jewish Fund in 2023 (see Table 3), including Alliance for Middle East Peace, Human Rights Watch, IfNotNow, Oxfam, and the Tides Network.

NIF-Funded organizations are involved in:

Troubling Partnerships

Apartheid Rhetoric

  • Over the last two years, groups receiving funds from the New Israel Fund have been part of a network of NGOs that promote artificial and manufactured definitions of apartheid to extend the ongoing campaigns that seek to delegitimize and demonize Israel. (Read NGO Monitor’s Policy Paper “False Knowledge as Power: Deconstructing Definitions of Apartheid that Delegitimise the Jewish State.”)
  • In June 2023, Yesh Din, Bimkom, Breaking the Silence, HaMoked, Combatants for Peace, Emek Shaveh, Gisha, Ir Amim, Physicians for Human Rights Israel, Rabbis for Human Rights, PCATI, and Zazim published a joint report titled “State of the Occupation – Year 56: A Joint Situation Report” affirming that “that after 56 years of occupation, Israel’s actions in the West Bank today meet the criteria of apartheid.” According to the report, “The current government’s steps, motivated by its stated Jewish supremacy ideology, will also deepen the apartheid regime governing nearly all aspects of oPt Palestinians’ lives.”
  • In February 2022, during the periodic review of Israel for the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) at the UN Human Rights Committee, Physicians for Human Rights – Israel (PHRI-I) published a submission that ”deliberate policies has created a situation whereby there has been a consistent damage to the Palestinian health services, which are — as a result of Israeli policies — inferior and less available than those offered to Israelis; namely, apartheid in health.”
  • In January 2021, B’Tselem launched a discriminatory and hateful campaign, under the banner of “A regime of Jewish supremacy from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea: This is apartheid.” As part of the campaign, B’Tselem attacked Israel’s role as a haven for the Jewish people (the Law of Return) and used the phrase “from the river to the sea” – echoing long-standing Palestinian terminology for the destruction of Israel. (Read NGO Monitor’s analysis: “From the “River to the Sea”: B’Tselem’s Demonization Crosses the Line.”)
  • In December 2020, Breaking the Silence and The Israeli Centre for Public Affairs (a new NGO employing former Breaking the Silence staff) published “Highway to Annexation,” repeatedly accusing Israel of constructing an “Apartheid Road.”
  • In July 2020, Yesh Din published a “legal opinion” titled “The Israeli Occupation of the West Bank and the Crime of Apartheid” alleging “that the crime against humanity of apartheid is being committed in the West Bank” by Israel.

Lawfare/ICC

  • In December 2022, Adalah, B’Tselem, Combatants for Peace, HaMoked, Human Rights Defenders Fund, Physicians for Human Rights Israel, PCATI, and Yesh Din were signatories on a joint letter to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court stating that “We are all committed to assisting your office in advancing the ongoing investigation of the Situation in Palestine.”
  • In April 2021, B’Tselem, Adalah, and Combatants for Peace were signatories on a statement welcoming the decision of the ICC to launch a formal investigation into alleged war crimes committed by Israel in the “State of Palestine.” According to the statement, “This is a long-awaited and a critically important step towards ensuring the rule of law and ending impunity, while ensuring accountability for Israel’s crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court.”
  • In February 2021, Breaking the Silence Executive Director Avner Gevaryahu published an article titled “The best way to avoid an ICC probe: Don’t commit war crimes.” In the article, Gevaryahu alleged that “Military operation after military operation, Israel has ignored the black flag — a warning sign of immoral orders which ought to be defied — that flies over the rules of engagement dictated by its government cabinet and the IDF’s top brass.”
  • In March 2020, B’Tselem stated that “The ICC can – and must – investigate the situation in Palestine.” According to an email, “Israel may finally have to start considering the price for its crimes against the Palestinians. We hope the court will make the right decision to back the Prosecutor’s position and rule: there is jurisdiction, and there will be an investigation.” B’Tselem also published a press release and position paper that accused Israel of using the Holocaust to justify its policies vis-a-via the Palestinians, “the very values that the ICC is meant to safeguard – the values that the world has been trying to promote since the end of World War II, in response to the unspeakable atrocities committed during that dark chapter in history. With shameless cynicism, Israel is trying to use these very horrors to justify continued oppression, land grab and killings at its own hands.”
  • In a January 30, 2020 statement, Yesh Din alleged, “the State of Israel is unable or unwilling to take resolute action in keeping with its legal duties to eradicate violence and harm to Palestinians and their property…For this reason, we believe that the international community, which shares in the responsibility for protecting the rights of Palestinians living under occupation, has an obligation to intervene and take action.” (emphases added)
  • In December 2019, Adalah applauded the decision of ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda to launch an investigation against Israel stating that “the ICC prosecutor has made the right decision given the facts. No other decision could have been possible. We welcome her position, and we believe that the ICC has full jurisdiction to decide on the concerned criminal cases.”

BDS

Demonization of Israel

  • In December 2023, FIDH, on behalf of its members including B’Tselem, Adalah, and Public Committee against Torture in Israel (PCATI), published a resolution accusing Israel of the “ unfolding crime of genocide and other crimes in Gaza and against the Palestinian People.” (Read NGO Monitor’s analysis, “FIDH Declares Total Political War Against Israel.”)
  • In April 2023, Adalah, B’Tselem, Breaking the Silence, Gisha, Combatants for Peace, Human Rights Defenders Fund, and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel were signatories on a letter to the United Nations Secretary-General urging the UN to reject the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism. According to the letter, the IHRA definition “opens the door to labeling as antisemitic… findings of major Israeli, Palestinian and global human rights organizations that Israeli authorities are committing the crime against humanity of apartheid against Palestinians.”
    • The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism, adopted by nearly 30 countries and counting, represents the international consensus definition of antisemitism, as well as how to distinguish between legitimate criticism of Israel and antisemitism. An example of the latter includes denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor.
  • In March 2013, Adalah launched a “Discriminatory Laws in Israel” database on its website (or “Racist Laws,” per Adalah’s English Facebook page). NGO Monitor’s analysis demonstrates that many of the claims are false or misleading.
    • Adalah’s rejection of the legitimacy of the Jewish State and its attempt to portray Israel as racist are integral components of the Durban Strategy that it helped formulate. Consistent with its political goal of eliminating Israel’s Jewish character, in 2007 Adalah drafted a “Democratic Constitution” that called for replacing the Jewish foundation of Israel with a “democratic, bilingual, and multicultural” framework.
  • NIF grantee Breaking the Silence makes repeated allegations of “war crimes” and “violations of international law.” Despite claiming to address Israeli society, BtS’ lobbying and media advocacy focus on international audiences, including appearances in Europe and the United States.
  • NIF grantee +972 Magazine, regularly features writers that accuse Israel of “apartheid,” “ethnic cleansing,” “racism,” “land confiscation,” “discrimination,” “displacement,” “fail[ing] to prosecute violence against Palestinians,” and “perpetrating another Nakba,” as well as deriding “American Jewish hypocrisy.”
  • NIF funds Molad, a highly partisan and openly political NGO that promotes a narrow, intolerant agenda, without providing diverse views or showing respect for other political opinions.
  • Both Mossawa and Baladna refer to the founding of the state of Israel as a “Nakba” [“catastrophe”], promote a 1948 agenda, and a Palestinian “right of return,” which, if implemented would effectually mean the elimination of Israel as a Jewish state.
  • NIF funded NGOs were featured centrally in the discredited Goldstone report, which focused on alleged Israeli “war crimes” in the 2009 Gaza war. The report referenced B’Tselem more than 56 times; Adalah, 38; and Breaking the Silence, 27.

Partial List of NIF Authorized Grants 2018-2023 (Amounts in US Dollars)

NGO20232022202120202019Total
Adalah179,712232,283171,411201,68897,261$882,355
Akevot20,70731,68842,07410,64820,617$125,734
Baladna35,000140,000117,000125,000-$417,000
Bimkom173,746191,084189,666290,500267,236$1,112,232
Breaking the Silence438,226893,169828,326572,134629,926$3,360,781
B'Tselem716,622508,873204,611137,950243,727$1,811,783
Combatants for Peace63,32534,94939,30145,34837,636$220,859
Comet-ME33,3501,2501,000$35,600
Emek Shaveh35,526133,96759,54033,35041,150$303,533
Gisha: Legal Center for the Protection of Freedom of Movement110,64765,466124,36792,43197,790$490,701
HaMoked: Center for the Defence of the Individual237,131179,109197,68760,38778,189$752,503
Haqel: Jews and Arabs in Defense of Human Rights31,50034,93041,8164,502305$113,053
Human Rights Defenders Fund (HRDF)275,324129,935150,565171,745200,550$928,119
I'Lam138,500104,500103,000$346,000
Ir Amim218,913226,966164,151140,684147,794$898,508
Israeli Center for Public Affairs28,50046,526221,284$296,310
Mehazkim204,259151,164132,219145,95123,900$657,493
Molad: The Center for the Renewal of Democracy3,00092517,00035,83325,000$81,758
Mossawa75,00010,000320$85,320
Kerem Navot (Naboth's Vineyard)10,00015,00015,00015,0005,000$60,000
Negev Coexistence Forum86,42865,06946,92646,81359,766$305,002
Nine Seven Two: Advancement of Citizen Journalism391,146411,984332,747274,119313,219$1,723,215
Parents' Circle: Bereaved Parents48,29812,02626,1073,0482,666$92,145
Physicians for Human Rights - Israel419,058389,998409,787320,728274,997$1,814,568
Rabbis for Human Rights128,90799,512114,29343,86143,985$430,558
Reut Sadaka Jewish-Arab Youth Movement7,3107,28627,8923,1004,050$49,638
Social TV45,00055,00035,000-400$135,400
Standing Together705,841303,841275,642332,519224,512$1,842,355
Terrestrial Jerusalem5,3603,989-10,000$19,349
The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel58,246124,92175,07379,63945,800$383,679
Women's Fund for Human Rights (Machsom Watch)53,50790,106113,607104,107117,171$478,498
Yesh Din176,652113,964110,806130,262138,999$670,683
Zazim - Community Action123,942155,078257,776211,852327,793$1,076,441
Zulat508,778156,771137,681104,31950,000$957,549
Total$5,786,761$5,107,340$4,797,254$3,737,518$3,529,759

Appendix 1

Table 1: Overview of NIF Finances 2019-2023 (Amounts in US Dollars)

20232022202120202019
Total Expenses43,727,42936,291,68334,129,52634,455,15034,887,485
Total Revenue57,051,08434,614,39431,789,35350,977,01433,403,322
Grants Authorized25,026,97319,351,76017,315,12817,811,33617,366,603
Grants Paid25,925,50619,751,71616,179,18318,154,23817,366,698

Table 2: 2020-2023 Progressive Jewish Fund Funding (amounts in USD)

NGO2023202220212020
Adalah2,5007002,200
Alliance for Middle East Peace35,50040,00035,0002,500
Amnesty International1,000
B'Tselem12,00023,50018,00020,000
Bimkom500500
Breaking the Silence29,33015,50011,0001,800
Combatants for Peace2,75015,32012,0004,000
Foundation for Middle East Peace25,0002,000
Gisha2502,000
Hamoked54,60018,0005,00015,500
Haqel1,0001,000
Human Rights Watch100100100
IfNotNow15,70032,10015,00015,000
Ir Amim1,3608,600
Just Vision65,50050,000
Mossawa500350
Nine Seven Two: Advancement of Citizen Journalism11,80011,00012,5002,500
Oxfam America100100100
Palestine Children's Relief Fund1,200100
Parents' Circle: Bereaved Parents19,54012,5005,0005,000
Physicians for Human Rights2,00021,5005,000
The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel1,800
Rabbis for Human Rights1,6001,600
Tides Center2,3601,800500
Tides Foundation12,00012,50029,180
Women's Fund for Human Rights (Machsom Watch)1,0001,0001,800
Yesh Din6,0001,000
Total$303,190$247,320$131,700$116,230

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Further Reading