Financing Mideast flames: Confronting BDS, New Israel Fund

At a time when boycott, divestment and sanctions is seen as a viable threat to Israel, many are asking where the oxygen for the BDS movement is coming from. Many critics point to the New Israel Fund (NIF) as an organization whose financing has been inseparable from the boycott movement.

The NIF vociferously asserts that it does not currently fund any organizations which advocate for a boycott of Israel. But until 2011, generous NIF grants to the boycott vanguard were indispensable to establishing and fortifying the budding international boycott movement. For example, a leading recipient of NIF money was the Coalition of Women for Peace, which boldly demands a boycott of all things Israeli, and has established a well-oiled database called “Who Profits” that targets Israeli enterprises, large and small.

According to NIF financial records, in 2008 alone, the NIF bestowed $93,457 to the Coalition of Women for Peace. Over a period of years, NIF financing of this organization reached a strong six-figure sum, including both direct grants and those where the NIF acted as a “go-between” for other donors—a technique called “donor advised” funding.

Go-between financing to create a tax deductible transaction is a key feature of the global boycott movement. In the 2009 annual report of the Coalition of Women for Peace, p.34 contains a prominent appeal:

“To our American friends: For a U.S. tax deduction, make out a check to the New Israel Fund, write on the memo line (or separately) that it is For the Coalition of Women for Peace, and mail it to New Israel Fund… (Minimum they will accept – $100.) To our British friends: For a UK tax deduction, make out a check to the New Israel Fund, write on the memo line (or separately) that it is For the Coalition of Women for Peace… (Minimum they will accept – 70 GBP.)”

At Australian Limmud Oz Festival in 2011, NIF board member Naomi Chazan asserted that the NIF no longer funded the Coalition of Women for Peace. When at that conference, a recently deposited copy of a donation check to the Coalition of Women for Peace was produced showing monies were still transiting NIF accounts. Chazan explained that transfer of money was “an error.”