The New Israel Fund (NIF) is the leading organization committed to equality and democracry for all Israelis. NIF is a philanthropic partnership of Israelis, North Americans and Europeans, and has provided more than $200 million to more than 800 progressive social change organizations since its inception in 1979.

Contents 1 Work 2 Accomplishments and Governance 2.1 Controversy 2.2 References 2.3 External links

[edit] Work

NIF's primary objective is to strengthen Israel's democracy, and to promote freedom, justice, and equality for all Israel's citizens. These principles are guaranteed in Israel's Declaration of Independence and a central element of Jewish tradition. Today, it focuses on fighting for civil and human rights, promoting religious tolerance and pluralism, and closing the social and economic gaps in Israeli society, especially those among Jews and Arabs. As one sign of its interest in outreach, the advertisements the NIF places online are trilingual in the two official languages of Israel (Hebrew and Arabic) as well as in English.

[edit] Accomplishments and Governance

According to Israel's leading daily newspaper, Ha'aretz, "In effect, there is hardly any significant socially oriented organization today in Israel that does not owe its existence to the NIF". The New Israel Fund founded, seed-funded and/or trained almost every progressive social change group in Israel, from the Association of Civil Rights in Israel to B'Tselem to the first womens' networks and organizations representing immigrants, migrant workers, the disabled and the LGBT community. NIF was the first major Jewish organization to work extensively with Palestinian Israeli citizens of Israel, who make up 20% of Israel's population and have lived as second-class citizens since the founding of the state.

NIF's action arm, SHATIL (seedling in Hebrew) is an internationally-recognized capacity building organization that trains nascent NGOs in every aspect of organizational growth and management. Recognized by the UN and emulated by other capacity-building organizations in developing countries, SHATIL has six offices on the ground in Israel, employing more than 100 diverse professionals.

With headquarters in Washington, DC and offices in New York, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Florida and Los Angeles, NIF is a true Israel-Diaspora partnership. The New Israel Fund of Canada and the New Israel Fund of the UK also contribute to the organization's success.

In October 2009, Daniel Sokatch became the new CEO of the New Israel Fund, after stints as the founding executive director of the Progressive Jewish Alliance and the San Francisco Federation. Rachel Liel, formerly director of SHATIL, became Israel Executive Director on November 1, 2009. Naomi Chazan, former Deputy Speaker of the Israeli Knesset, is the volunteer President of NIF; the Board consists of more than 25 experts, community leaders and activists, academics and philanthopists from Israel, the U.S. and the U.K.

[edit] Controversy

Though the NIF eschews politics, it has come under criticism from NGO Monitor, an Israeli non-governmental organization with the stated aim of monitoring other non-governmental organizations, for its support of groups that NGO Monitor considers to have an anti-Zionist agenda ^[1]. NGO Monitor is associated with a right-wing viewpoint,and consistently criticizes any and all human rights organizations that criticize Israel, while absolving settler and other extremist organizations of the right, as explained here: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1259243045210&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

NGOM's claims were denied by the former President of the New Israel Fund and law professor at Georgetown University Law Center, Peter Edelman, who described NGO Monitor's criticism as "un-democratic and un-Jewish" and "inherently and fundamentally flawed." ^[2] Larry Garber, former Executive Director of the New Israel Fund, and Eliezer Yaari, NIF's former Israel Director and a retired Israeli air force major^[3], wrote in an op-ed for The Jerusalem Post that if Israel were to accept the premises of Gerald M. Steinberg, the director of NGO Monitor, then "Israel's credibility - and, more important, the nation's morality - will suffer."^[4]

The New Israel Fund recently came under fire to funding I'lam^[5], an Arab NGO that supposedly calls for the end of Israel as a Jewish state and whose founder, Hanin Zoabi, stated that she supports Iranian acquisition of nuclear weapons to be used as a counterbalance to Israel.[1][2]

According to the Center for Near East Policy Research, a front organization for a settler news agency, the NIF has misrepresented I'lam to its donors.[3] The report was based on interviews conducted by Center employees misrepresenting themselves as journalists and is riddled with factual errors, as spelled out in I'lam's response at http://www.nif.org/media-center/nif-in-the-news/ilam-media-center-response-to-irna.html.

After NIF grantee Mossawa called for the end of Israel as a Jewish state, NIF CEO Larry Garber wrote in the Jerusalem Post that people who contemplate "ethnic cleansing or a self-perpetuating discriminatory system" are likely to disagree with NIF [4]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• New Israel Fund — Official website
• Against All Odds — TV talk show produced by NIF, featuring leaders from Israel's social change movement

http://israelbehindthenews.com/library/pdfs/InsideIlam-MediaCenterforArabPalestiniansinIsrael.pdf