Impact

Thanks to pressure from NIF grantees, the Israeli cabinet reversed a decision allowing employers to lay off pregnant women and women on maternity leave without restrictions during the COVID-19 crisis. The cabinet backtracked following petitions filed by several NIF grantees, including the Israel Women’s Network (IWN).

During the escalation of violence in May 2021, The Abraham Initiatives — an NIF grantee that works to promote shared society and equality between Jews and Arabs in Israel — mobilized local political leaders, especially those in mixed cities across Israel, to do their utmost to calm tensions while at the same time allowing for non-violent protests, even large-scale ones, in their towns and cities.

For the past 30 years, the Physicians for Human Rights Israel mobile clinic has been providing vital medical treatment to residents of Palestinian villages throughout the West Bank. During the COVID-19 crisis and its accompanying lockdowns and restrictions on movement, the clinic became an even more vital lifeline for Palestinians.

The Aguda – Israel’s LGBT Task Force launched an Arabic-language hotline that provides support and resources to queer Palestinian citizens of Israel. This is a vital resource for a minority group that lacks the resources and infrastructure to provide such support.

Following advocacy by the Shatil-led Arab-Jewish Citizens’ Forum for the Promotion of Health in the Galilee, Israel’s Ministry of Health ordered the Galilee Medical Center to open a 25-patient dialysis unit for COVID-19 patients. “This success is the result of Shatil’s professional work in mobilizing a network of activists and encouraging initiatives and actions, which in this case led to a lifesaving achievement,” said Shira Eytan, Shatil’s director of Social and Economic Justice.

Following a petition from NIF grantees Adalah and Israel Hofsheet (Be Free Israel), Israel’s Supreme Court ruled that hospitals cannot prevent visitors from bringing in leavened food products (chametz) during Passover. While the petition acknowledged the legitimate need for many Jewish Israelis to uphold their beliefs and not eat such items during Passover, the court agreed with Adalah and Israel Hofsheet that this could not override the fundamental freedoms of Arab and secular Jewish citizens.