Impact

Less than two years after its founding, The Whistle, the only organization fact-checking statements by Israeli politicians, was recently acquired by the Israeli financial news site, Globes. The Whistle was incubated by NIF as part of our New Initiatives for Democracy (NIFD), and this news is a hopeful sign of support from the Israeli business community for government accountability and transparency.

Zazim – Community Action raised a powerful voice against extremism by collecting 14,000 signatures of Israelis calling to ban the openly racist Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party from running in the 2019 elections, while 8,500 more signed on globally in support of Zazim. Thanks to a petition filed by the Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC), Israel’s Supreme Court disqualified the candidacy of Michael Ben-Ari, leader of Otzma Yehudit. The far-right party also failed to cross the electoral threshold during the September elections.

Officially the city of Afula claimed that its central municipal park was for residents only, but in practice, security guards placed at the park’s gates only refused entry to Arab citizens from surrounding towns and villages. Adalah: The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel petitioned the Nazareth Administrative Court on the matter and the court agreed and ordered Afula to overturn the racist policy, ensuring the park is open to all.

NIF grantee Zazim – Community Action‘s plan to transport Bedouin voters from unrecognized villages (which do not have adequate roads or public transportation) to polling stations was canceled by the Central Elections Commission. But the plan acted as an inspiration for many private citizens, who traveled to unrecognized villages themselves on election day and taking Bedouin citizens to the polling stations to make sure they had access to vote.

Since the inception of NIF’s Kick It Out (KIO) campaign to eliminate racism and violence in soccer in 2003, KIO has campaigned relentlessly to highlight the problem, which has gradually been reduced over the years. There were only two cases of racist chanting by Beitar Jerusalem fans during the 2018/19, compared with 17 during the 2017/18 season, and 35 in 2016/17, according to a KIO report.

Groups like Israel Women’s Network (IWN), Zazim — Community Action, and Omdim Beyachad (Standing Together), Women Against Violence mobilized to bring 30,000 demonstrators to Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square to protest the Israeli authorities’ failure to take action on violence against women. NIF gave emergency grants to organize this demonstration, which was the largest women’s protest ever held in Israel.