New Israel Fund - 14 October 2010 E-Newsletter

Take Action... Read Why

Contact Prime Minister Netanyahu to oppose the "loyalty oath." Take action here.

And read why a loyalty oath to a Jewish state is undemocratic and not in Israel's best interest in NIF President Naomi Chazan's op-ed in The Huffington Post.

Message from Daniel Sokatch

I wasn’t surprised when Jim Besser, of the Jewish Week, called to interview me about the “loyalty oath,” an amendment to Israel’s Citizenship Act that would require all non-Jews seeking Israeli citizenship to swear an oath of allegiance not to the State of Israel, but to the idea of Israel as a Jewish state. NIF- like many Israelis from all points on the political spectrum - opposes the oath because it runs counter to the spirit of Israel’s Declaration of Independence and status as a liberal democracy.

New Israel Fund Protests Loyalty Oath Requirement

The vote by the Israeli Cabinet Sunday evening to send legislation to the Knesset requiring new non-Jewish citizens to swear a loyalty oath to the “Jewish state” shocked a wide range of Israeli leaders, as well as the NIF family of organizations.

High Court Rules against Street Barrier Separating Men and Women

The ultra-Orthodox community in Jerusalem’s Mea Shearim district dismantled a street barrier separating men and women after the High Court of Justice ruled last week that the practice was unacceptable. The High Court was responding to a petition by NIF grantee Yerushalmim, which had insisted that any division of public space by gender in Israel is illegal.

High Court Orders Location-Based Tax Breaks to Be Discontinued

Israel’s High Court of Justice has ordered the Tax Authority to discontinue tax breaks based on location, which discriminated against Arab-Israeli towns and villages. The ruling follows a petition by veteran NIF grantees Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) and Adalah: Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel.

Planning Committee Scraps Highway through Nature Reserve

Israel’s National Infrastructures Committee decided to scrap a plan to extend the Ayalon Freeway further north from Herzliya. A coalition of environmentalist groups supported by NIF through the Green Environment Fund (GEF), including Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI) and Green Course, persuasively argued that the new highway would have cut through the Sharon National Park, crossed the Alexander River and blighted the landscape.

SHATIL Spearheads Efforts toward Gender Equality in the Workforce

"The contribution of SHATIL to combating sexual harassment in the workplace and to gender equality in the workforce is truly remarkable,” said Michal Rosin, executive director of the Association of Rape Crisis Centers, following a sexual harassment workshop in the Knesset. “SHATIL's work will have a dramatic affect on victims of sexual harassment." The workshop was held in conjunction with the first national day to raise awareness about sexual harassment.