New Israel Fund

It's not only become an increasingly contentious issue in Israel, but it raises questions not just about the law enforcement, but also what kind of country does Israel want to be? So these are the questions we're going to look at today.

What happened to the Israeli left? Why has peace become a word that's almost toxic today in Israeli politics and probably in wider society? How should the country, the people of Israel, how should they confront this uptick in violence? by Jews against Palestinians in the West Bank? And is there even a constituency for a different approach? To discuss all of this, I'm joined today by Shira Ben-Sasson, the executive director of the New Israel Fund in Israel.

Shira took up her role just a few months ago, and it's a fascinating conversation.

Stay with us.

Great to be here.

So there's a lot to talk about.

And the reason I wanted to talk to you is you're the relatively new executive director of the New Israel Fund.

So we're going to get to that in a bit because I do want you to tell us a bit about what the New Israel Fund is for those who might not know.

And meanwhile, I do think that we're seeing American Jews, particularly liberal Zionist American Jews, in support of this.

Like, you know, I got a press release from New Jewish Narrative, which, you know, used to be Americans for Peace Now and is often partnered with groups like T'ruah, like Partners for a Progressive Israel, like these kinds of groups, New Israel Fund, and they are welcoming these sanctions and basically calling on the US government to follow suit, saying, this is from their statement, that the United States is out of step with these important initiatives.

And I do think that polling suggests that liberal Zionists in the United States are pro the sanctioning of West Bank settlements, which is sort of interesting.

You know, I, I, of course, don't think that our mainstream communal institutions would reflect that, but I do think that these measures would be popular even among American Jews who consider themselves Zionists.

We haven't really heard any sounds on that, and in the meantime, court cases are ongoing.

So that, again, as you said, it's kind of a very live issue, and I think it'll be interesting to see where the government goes with it.

That also was very unpopular, and I think the growth of groups like Defend Our Juries, who was sort of organizing the groups of people who were standing with the signs saying, "I oppose genocide.

I support Palestine Action." I think that has given a lot of pause to people in government.

I wouldn't go so far as to say that he is some sort of anti-Zionist, uh, billionaire, but the, uh, things that he funds, uh, in, in Israel, uh, like I believe he was a big funder of B'Tselem and Breaking the Silence, um, as well as, uh, you know, a bunch of other, uh, liberal and progressive organizations-

He seems like an NIF kind of guy

...

in, in the US.

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel, where I used to work.

The New Israel Fund, which is an umbrella fund for many of these different kinds of NGOs doing work of this nature.

Brothers and Sisters in Arms for Democracy, which particularly was sparked by the Israeli Supreme Court crisis the other year, whose fate is not yet over.

Or Seeds of Peace, as one congregant suggested to me, which brings together young people in relationship across the conflict's lines in the hope that the future might not be so troubled as the present is.

They took up my case.

The New Israel Fund actually funded them.

funded that case for them.

And it took a while.

After a while, we went to the press.

It became an immediate sensation in Israel and also in America.

The New Israel Fund got Thomas Friedman, who was then covering the Middle East for the New York Times.

And so they got him to meet me, and he published in New York Times a big story in which he compared me to Rosa Parks, which I thought was totally uncalled for.