I am concerned and disappointed about the leak of a February 2010 conversation through Wikileaks. The views I expressed (which were not reported accurately) were my own, not those of the New Israel Fund, and were never intended to represent NIF’s positions. NIF is on record as dedicated to Israel as a Jewish and democratic state.

I left the New Israel Fund almost a year ago, largely because my own views did not conform to the positions and direction of the organization, and under the circumstances, the principled course of action was to resign. Specifically, the new funding guidelines, and the pending exclusion of organizations that would no longer be eligible for NIF support, would have been problematic for me to enforce.

Despite my differences with the New Israel Fund, I hold the organization in the highest regard for the work it does supporting civil society and building a better society in Israel.