eNewsletters |

September 8, 2009

Israel Office

• Women Protest Gender-Segregated Buses
• Linking Diplomatic Service to Military Service is Unfair Discrimination
• Happiness is a Cooler Planet: Bill McKibben Speaks to Negev Activists

SHATIL

• SHATIL's Back from the Edge Project for Immigrant Youth at Risk: Strengthening the Weak, Boosting the Strong

Weekly Message

This summer has seen a proliferation in attacks directed against NIF and the organizations that we support in Israel.  The latest example is an article by Jonathan Rosenblum, which was published in the Jerusalem Post this past Friday.   The various criticisms are, consciously, designed to delegitimize our work.  However, as has been true for the past 30 years, we will neither back down nor be distracted from our efforts to strengthen Israeli democracy.  And, we are confident that American Jews will not be bullied by these scurrilous attempts at organizational character assassination. 

NIF is proud of our reputation as the leading supporter of Israel’s social change movement.  Annually, we provide grants to more than 100 Israeli nongovernmental organizations and capacity building assistance to five times this number.    We operate in a transparent manner, with our annual report, tax filings and list of grantees all available for perusal on our website. 

Our vision is of an Israel that reflects the values articulated in the country’s 1948 Declaration of Independence, with Israel serving as the national homeland of the Jewish people and committing to treat equally all citizens of the country.   We are proud of the many contributions that have we made to transform this vision into at least a partial reality.  And since 1979, women, gays and lesbians, the conservative and reform movements, environmental activists, new immigrants from the former Soviet Union and Ethiopia, and Arab citizens of Israel have all benefitted from our support. 

Still, we acknowledge that much work remains and this bothers our critics.  They would prefer that we ignore the abuses of human rights that are brought to public attention by the courageous organizations that monitor human rights in the territories.  They would rather we closed our eyes to the manifestations of discrimination that confront Israel’s Arab minority on a daily basis.  And they seek to silence those who address imperfections in Israeli society because this might further harm Israel’s image abroad.

We too are concerned about how the world views Israel.  We worry about the constant efforts to undermine Israel’s legitimacy in the eyes of the international community.  But the proper response is not to adopt a siege mentality based on the premise that “everyone is out to get the Jews;” rather, the emphasis should be on highlighting the important work being performed by NIF-supported NGOs and others to improve the state of Israeli democracy. 

Alas, our critics focus almost exclusively on NIF’s association with various Israeli Arab organizations.  Yet, these organizations have played a critical role in addressing the unequal treatment that the Arab minority has experienced in Israel since independence.   Through court cases, public advocacy and serious research, our Arab grantees have achieved several notable successes.  And while we do not always agree with what these organizations say, we are convinced that it is essential to incorporate their voices into the national dialogue regarding Israel’s future directions.

Indeed, next week’s visit to the US by Minister for Minorities Affairs Avishai Braverman will underscore the Israeli government’s belated recognition of the importance of dealing constructively with its Arab minority.  And the fact that Braverman is being hosted by 75-member Inter-Agency Task Force on Israeli Arabs and Jewish federations in New York, Washington and San Francisco will highlight the mainstreaming of this issue among American Jewish audiences, as long advocated by NIF.  

The New Israel Fund is the very definition of a ‘big tent’ organization.  No one organization can facilitate social change by itself, which is why the coalitions we build, the organizations we empower, the activists we train and the spectrum of skills and views we represent guarantee democracy in a still-young nation without a Constitution or Bill of Rights. As elements of the Netanyahu government and their allies on the right are making a concerted effort to silence our voices, your support for our mission and our work is all the more critical.