The last two weeks has seen renewed attacks on Israel’s human rights community. Im Tirtzu, in a video labelled by the Anti-Defamation League as hate speech, has accelerated its attacks on two of NIF’s core grantees, B’Tselem and Breaking the Silence.

But the video is only one part of a broader strategy to de-fund, delegitimise, and undermine human rights organisations, and with it Israel’s democracy.

We need your help: NIF is the main Jewish funder of Israel’s pro-democracy community, and we need to show them our support.

In just the last few days, Maj. Gen. (ret.) Alik Ron, Maj. Gen. (res.) Amiram Levin and former heads of the Shin Bet Yuval Diskin and Ami Ayalon have all come out supporting our grantees, with Diskin writing that “their contribution is very important and helps us maintain the required vigilance about the most sensitive human issues.”

Please, make a donation to NIF now to support Israel’s human rights community.

We also continue to be active in other areas of Israeli society: investing in shared society and coexistence, protecting democratic infrastructure, working to relieve poverty and promote affordable housing, and ensuring religious pluralism and tolerance.

Here are some highlights from our work in the last 12 months:

• A number of NIF grantees led the opposition to the government’s Anti-Infiltration Law, which allowed for the 20-month mandatory detention of asylum seekers. For the third time, the law was struck down by the High Court as unconstitutional.
• Research by the NIF’s Kick It Out program, which is funded by the Israeli and European soccer associations, has revealed a marked drop in racism at Israel Premier League soccer matches. Indeed, at an October match, two top teams, Hapoel Haifa and B’nei Sakhnin marched on to the field together with a banner “We Refuse To Be Enemies!”
• Following a petition from our grantee Ir Amim, the Jerusalem District Court ordered the government to take care of roads and infrastructure for the 60,000 residents of the Kafr Akeb neighbourhood in East Jerusalem, which is located beyond the separation barrier.
• Two of our grantees in the Arab community, Mossawa and Women Against Violence, are training dozens of female Arab representatives on local councils to develop municipal funding and promote their interests and communities on the national level.
• NIF collaborated in the production of ground breaking documentary “Magash Hakesef” (Silver Platter) about socio-economic issues in Israel. It was among the most popular shows of 2015, sparking conversations about inequality and distributive justice in Israel.
• Thanks to the work of Shatil-led Forum for Public House, the government’s coalition agreement contains a clear commitment to invest in more public housing for the the country’s poorest.

Your donation ensures Israel lives up to the values of the Declaration of Independence, of equality, democracy and inclusion.

There has never been a more important time for us in the Diaspora to raise our hands and partner with Israelis to shape Israeli society with the values of social justice, human rights and tolerance.

Together, we are continuing to invest in Israeli civil society, as well as dynamic and inclusive conversations in the Australian Jewish community. We hope you will join us in this work.

Thank you again for all your support, and we look forward to a seeing you at our events in 2016.

Liam Getreu
Executive Director