17 November 2010

The New Israel Fund released this statement today in response to a blog post from Jeffrey Goldberg of the Atlantic.

Since the policy that Mr. Goldberg quotes was written, we at the New Israel Fund have made clear, not once but many times, that we do not support global BDS nor will we support organizations with BDS programs.  The original policy left room for the discretion we require as funders, the kind of discretion that allows us to engage in dialogue with an important organization that signs one letter supporting divestment rather than summarily dismissing them.

Our stance is clear, and we’ve recently taken the trouble to debate it in public. We expect to further sharpen our official opposition to global BDS, while acknowledging that many Israelis are developing non-violent means of protesting the injustice of the ongoing occupation by refusing to buy products and services produced in settlements, and that this activity is consistent with our opposition to the occupation . Since being “pro-Israel” encompasses a wide range of ideas and views, we would hope Mr. Goldberg would agree that our careful and nuanced approach is entirely consistent with our wholehearted “pro-Israel” organizational values.