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The New Israel Fund believes that ensuring Israel's peaceful and
democratic future means building a society dedicated to equality.
pluralism, and the rule of law. A joint effort of Israelis, North
Americans and Europeans, the Fund supports activities in Israel that
safeguard civil and human rights, promotes Jewish coexistence, foster
tolerance and religious plurism, advance status of women, bridge social
and economic gaps, assist citizen efforts to protect the environment and
increase government accountability. The New Israel Fund works to
achieve its goal in five ways:
 | providing grants to hundreds of Israeli public-interest
organizations; |
| offering capacity building assistance to non-profit organizations
in management, fundraising, advocacy, and public relations; |
| operating independent projects to foster citizen action on issues
and among population groups receive inadequate attention from other
institutions; |
| developing leadership among Jewish and Arab Israelis in civil
rights law, community organizing, and international cross-cultural,
business management; |
| conducting public education programs in Israel and the Diaspora
on the challenges and achievements of Israeli democracy |
Since 1979, the New Israel Fund has been at the forefront of efforts
to fulfill the founding vision of Israel as a state based on freedom,
justice and peace, as envisioned by the prophets of Israel. The fund
now has over 21,000 donors worldwide, who support hundreds of citizen based
Israeli organizations each year. The diverse accomplishments achieved by
groups and coalitions supported by the New Israel Fund include the
following:
Building Civil Society
| Helping young interest organizations become effective,
professional, and self sustaining; |
| Placing unrecognized or unpopular issues on the public agenda,
including violations of human rights, violence against women, child
abuse, gay rights and disability rights; |
| Influencing the policies and practices and agendas of
philanthropies and government agencies; |
| helping develop new leaders within under-served population groups
(Ethiopians, Arab Israelis, Bedouins, and Jews of North Africa and
Middle Eastern origin). |
Safeguarding Civil and Human Rights
| Protecting thousands of Israelis - women, disabled people,
non-Orthodox Jews, Arab citizens, and other minorities - from
discrimination in housing, employment, and land rights; |
| Exposing human rights violations such as inhumane conditions and postponement
of urgent medical treatment in Israeli prisons; and |
| Enacting Israel's first law to ensure equal rights for people
with disabilities; |
| Conducting workshops for members of Israel's security forces on
human rights issues they encounter in their daily work |
Promoting Jewish-Arab Equality and Coexistence
| Increasing government funding for municipal services, preschools,
recreational facilities, and teacher-training programs for the Arab
Israeli community; |
| Enabling thousands of young Israelis to participate in Jewish-Arab
youth groups, intensive encounter workshops, theatre groups, and other
coexistence programs; and |
| Brokering and agreement with the Ministry of Finance to erase
debts arising from a tax disproportionately on Arab-owned lands in
Israel |
Fostering Tolerance and Religious Freedom
| Winning Supreme Court rulings that permit non-Orthodox burials,
recognize conversions performed by Reform and Conservative rabbis, and
allow women and non-Orthodox members to serve on municipal religious
councils; |
| Providing information on non-Orthodox marriage options to
thousands of couples; and |
| Developing models for dialogue between Israelis of opposing views
that has been applied throughout Israel |
Advancing the Status of Women
| Making domestic violence a separate offense, and instituting
stiff penalties for offenders; |
| Establishing battered women's shelters and rape crisis centers
across the country, including special programs for Orthodox and Arab
women; |
| Enacting laws guaranteeing women equal opportunity in employment
(including the military) and parity in retirement age; and |
| Significantly increasing the priority to women's health issues |
Bridging Social and Economic Gaps
| Enacting Public Housing Law allowing low-income tenants to
purchase their apartments on favorable terms |
| Helping more than a thousand Ethiopian families move from caravan
sites to permanent housing; |
| Protecting key social services from government funding cuts; and |
| Reducing the routine tracking of Ethiopian and low-income Mizrahl
students into vocational or special education classes |
The major issues Israelis will face over the next fifty years have
less to do with survival and more to do with the evolving nature of their
society. As public debate over Israel's future intensifies the New Israel
Fund invites you to join us in building an Israeli society in which the
prophetic vision of justice, equality, and peace will be translated into
modern-day reality.
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