The fund is an association registered in the United States, where it is prohibited from allocating funds for political purposes in Israel.
Miki Gitzin, CEO of the New Fund in Israel
Photography:
Yossi Zeliger - Archive
The New Israel Fund, a non-profit organization registered in the United States, has donated about NIS 2.3 million to organizations that tried to influence the Israeli elections, according to its recently published financial report for 2019.
These are "moving", "standing together", "strengthening" and "Adalah" organizations, which assisted the left camp during the two election campaigns in 2019 (in April and September) and received from the fund this year an amount 75% higher than the year before.
It should be noted that even before the early elections, they were originally planned to be held in November 2019 - that is, the foundation was aware that there would be elections to the Knesset this year.
The fund's financial report for 2020 will only be published in about a year.
In the two election campaigns in 2019, Zazim organized a system of transportation to the polls of tens of thousands of people from the Bedouin diaspora, even though the organization was not registered as an active body in the elections - an action that would have exposed it to strict transparency rules.
On election day in September, the organization received a restraining order from the then chairman of the Election Commission, Supreme Court Justice Hanan Meltzer, against operating the shuttles.
In the same year, Zazim received a donation of NIS 1.2 million from the new fund - almost twice as much as the previous year and the highest amount since the organization was founded four years ago.
"Standing Together", which defines itself as a political movement that "fights for a comprehensive alternative to the right", ran a campaign in the run-up to the September 2019 elections calling on the leaders of the center-left parties and their representatives to commit to forming a government together with the joint list.
Funding for "Bot Research"
The organization also boasted that their representatives came to protest at the Likud headquarters and accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of incitement, bloodshed and racism.
In 2019, "Standing Together" received a donation of about NIS 750,000 from the fund - more than it received from the fund in 2017 and 2018 together.
Adalah, which in the days since its amendment accuses Israel of war crimes and represents terrorists, gave legal representation in the 2019 elections to the parties that make up the joint, as well as to Ofer Kasif, before becoming a Knesset member, when a petition was filed disqualifying him following extremist statements, including "legitimate harm to soldiers."
Last year, Adalah received about NIS 320,000 from the new fund.
The "Strengthen" organization was founded by Uri Kol.
Cole was involved in the preparation of the "bot investigation" against the Likud in the April elections last year - an investigation into the matter was published in Yedioth Ahronoth and turned out to be unfounded.
Some of those who starred in the same "investigation" when they were presented as "bots" filed a NIS 1 million lawsuit against the newspaper.
Cole published many political posts on social media, such as a post in which he was photographed dropping a ballot paper next to the caption "The attenuated virus that the right injects into the body of democracy is the best vaccine to strengthen Israeli society in the future ... flocking to the polls or flocking to terrorism."
In 2019, "Strengtheners" received a sum of about 80,000 shekels from the fund - almost twice as much as a year earlier.
Controversial support
Other entities that received a 100% increase in donations from the fund in 2019 are the "News Site 972 - Local Call" (NIS 1.12 million), which publishes news items and opinion articles in the spirit of the extreme left and the joint list;
"Trace" that provides material for the research activity or trial of other far-left organizations against the State of Israel;
And Kav LaOved, which was involved in petitions against the laws to expel infiltrators from Israel.
Another organization whose funding approved grew significantly in 2019 is Breaking the Silence - which received a grant of about NIS 2.1 million, one of the highest given by the fund to any organization last year.
Alon Schwarzer, head of the policy department at the If You Will movement, said: "A reality in which a foreign political corporation intervenes almost unhindered through funding for organizations in Israeli elections is an illegal phenomenon that must be stopped."
The New Israel Fund stated: "Israel Hayom's claim is completely unfounded. From a simple examination of the data, which is transparent to the entire public, it can be seen that in stark contrast to what was described, there is a difference in support for each of the organizations mentioned. The article focuses on a few organizations among the hundreds of organizations receiving support from the New Israel Fund, some of which have increased support, some have declined and others have remained the same, with the common denominator being that they all work for a broad civil society. "Political, but works to promote a social agenda that advocates equality and justice and works for a strong Israeli democracy."