Netanyahu’s Criticism Ignites a Wave of Support

11 April 2018

Just minutes after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced he would open a parliamentary committee of inquiry against NIF, we received an outpouring of support. Donations came from everyone from multiple Knesset Members to average Israelis and supporters abroad. We were touched by some of the declarations people posted about us publicly in solidarity. Here are a few of them:

“This morning I went to the New Israel Fund website, and for the first time I contributed to them… I did it because the stupidity, the delirium, the meanness, and the absurdity of Netanyahu’s exploitation of NIF… I did it because it is a respectable and stable fund that contributes to Israeli society, that helps the weak and the poor, that works for equality and for justice… I made a donation because I wanted to do something beyond the obvious need to fight in the Knesset against any attack on NIF.”

– Knesset Member Shelly Yachimovich

“This whining and this wild attack on the New Israel Fund is a strange and serious phenomenon.

First of all, do they realize who NIF is?

They are the Israeli Nobel Prize winners. Aaron Ciechanover. Kahanaman. The best of the professors from the universities. Senior military people. They are people who do excellent service to help those for whom it’s hard. And, yes, they want a country that is just and that is equal. Most of them have been outstanding Zionists their entire lives.”

– Dan Meridor, former Deputy Prime Minister

I just donated to NIF in honour of Binyamin Netanyahu.

Posted by Susan Silverman on Tuesday, April 3, 2018

“The New Israel Fund operates out of a sense of mission to Zionism and the Jewish people.”

– Benny Lau, Israeli Orthodox Rabbi, head of the Human Rights and Judaism in Action Project at the Israel Democracy Institute

My coffee was cold this morning, this matzah tastes stale, I just got bitten by a mosquito, I STILL have to wait for…

Posted by Sarah Tuttle-Singer on Tuesday, April 3, 2018

“As a proud board Member of the New Israel Fund, I can tell you the New Israel Fund is critical to Israel’s democracy, supporting endless organizations that work to make Israel a saner, better and more balanced country, affording equal rights and opportunities to all her citizens, Jews and Arabs alike.”

– Achinoam Nini (Noa), Singer

“Netanyahu saw that he had not succeeded in passing a decision on the refugees, and he vented his anger on the New Israel Fund.

My relationship with NIF has been long. They supported math education in poor urban neighborhoods and in development towns. They created a philanthropic network to deal with the abandonment of the development towns.

In recent years, they have supported Tikkun, which I lead, whose purpose is to update the ethos of Israeli society in a way that will give voice to the great abundance of the blessings within the Jewish heritage.

Netanyahu’s accusation is very serious. It is very close to incitement. And it itself is damaging to the Jewish character of the state.”

– Meir Buzaglo, Lecturer at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem

My wife and I have long been proud supporters of the New Israel Fund, which works to preserve liberal democratic…

Posted by Steve Weitzman on Thursday, April 5, 2018

“Netanyahu’s post is not just a sign that he’s lost control but also a badge of honor for the New Israel Fund. Bibi is afraid of public struggles that grow from the bottom up and connect groups that he tries to pit against one another.”

– Knesset Member Ayman Odeh

The prime minister of Israel is attacking human rights organizations for legally fighting against his failed,…

Posted by Elon Langbeheim on Tuesday, April 3, 2018