Stories

Over the last two years, NIF donors from around the world have donated more than $3.4 million for aid to Gazan civilians – including food, water, shelter, and sanitation services – provided by World Central Kitchen, Clean Shelter, and the International Rescue Committee. This campaign made a powerful statement about our community, demonstrating that we will always stand up for the values of justice and compassion.

NIF’s Civil Society Protection Hub, launched in 2023, continues helping activists and organizations to operate safely and effectively in an unfriendly climate shaped by an extremist government. The Hub connects threatened individuals and NGOs with an array of NIF-funded support services. It has aided over 100 individuals and organizations over the past year, thwarting online attacks against activists, supporting activists protecting Palestinians from settler violence, and opposing hardline efforts to hobble progressive NGOs.

NIF, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), and other grantees have advocated tirelessly against legislation that poses diverse threats to Israeli democracy — including a bill that would effectively ban Arab parties from running for Knesset, and another that would chill dissent by allowing police to arrest anyone, without evidence, by accusing them of supporting terrorism.

In a victory for Ir Amim and the Palestinian residents of Silwan, the Jerusalem District Court prevented the government from transferring NIS 3 million (roughly $920,000) to the settler organization Ateret Cohanim to build a visitors’ center in the heart of Silwan. This East Jerusalem neighborhood is a target of repeated takeover attempts from Israeli settlers.

NIF more than tripled its rapid response grants pool to $2 million annually, providing grants to dozens of organizations and activists opposing the government’s ultranationalist agenda. The grants fund initiatives such as prodemocracy demonstrations across Israel; efforts to safeguard liberal democratic values in education; legal aid for Palestinians in the West Bank; and projects to ensure the rights of women, asylum seekers, and the LGBTQ community.

Following advocacy by Sikkuy-Aufoq: For an Equal and Shared Society, the Ministry of Health is engaging in a new effort to improve Arabic-language accessibility in hospitals and the entire Israeli health-care system. These efforts are crucial steps toward improving health-care accessibility for Arabic-speaking citizens of Israel, while building trust and combating discrimination within the health system.

NIF has created a new program to promote a peaceful, inclusive vision for Israel’s future. This work entails supporting think tanks that craft policies and diplomatic initiatives advancing peace; blocking the further entrenchment of the occupation; preventing the expulsion of Palestinian communities in the West Bank and thwarting settler violence; and funding research and campaigns to shift public opinion about the need for a negotiated resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.