Many Israelis – including members of the current government – have used the word “apartheid” in reference to the discrimination and segregation imposed in the occupied territories. The New Israel Fund does not use this word as we find it inflammatory and inaccurate. NIF does not support Israel Apartheid Week nor do we believe that it makes a positive contribution to the debate.

NIF also recognizes that promoting social change means empowering Israelis to speak in their own voices. As such, and like all responsible funders, we do not censor the language of our grantees. Likewise, we do not attempt to restrict grantees from participating in conferences with whose premise we might disagree, even if they debate or speak alongside organizations ineligible for our funding. To do so would contradict our own core values, including that of the free exchange of ideas and freedom of speech and conscience.

There is a certain hypocrisy to the criticism we routinely face regarding this policy. It is often the same voices who shrilly oppose any contact with the global BDS movement – which we also oppose – who are usually the first to prescribe boycott of conferences that include perspectives with which they disagree. Every year, NIF reiterates that we do not support Israel Apartheid Week or believe that it makes a positive contribution to the debate. And every year, we are criticized because a grantee is participating in some conference or facet of the program, or a grantee’s materials and reports are used in this context.

As a recent report from our grantee Molad confirms, Israel’s hasbara efforts are well-funded and successful. The issue is not Israel’s inability to defend itself either militarily or in the court of public opinion; it does very well at both. But the Israeli government is persisting in policies that undermine Israel’s status as a liberal democracy. Among these are the deepening of the occupation, the growing settlement enterprise, and measures proposed in the last Knesset that restrict dissent and criticism of those policies. Under these circumstances, Israel will be increasingly vulnerable to misrepresentation by its adversaries and increasing criticism by its friends. These are the issues that real friends of Israel must address.