Stories

NIF’s new program called Nasij نسيج (“tapestry” in Arabic) cultivates Palestinian-Israeli civil society organizations and activists who can take effective action to advance rights and equality for Palestinian citizens of Israel. In its first year of operation, Nasij has provided over $1.5 million in grants and capacity-building to 18 organizations working on an NIF focus area, such as combating the crime and violence that is devastating Palestinian-Israeli communities and addressing its root causes.

After Israel’s High Court accepted a petition by ACRI in defense of the right to protest, the legal adviser to the Israeli police issued guidelines prohibiting confiscation of anti-war signs. This victory came after months of the police systematically suppressing anti-war demonstrations, including by confiscating signs and violently dispersing legal protests.

Thanks to advocacy by Haqel: In Defense of Human Rights, Israel’s High Court required the government to enable the safe return of Palestinian residents to their homes in the West Bank community of Zanuta, after they were forced to leave because of settler threats and violence. Settler violence and intimidation remain a major and growing threat in villages throughout the West Bank.

In a historic first, a same-sex couple in Israel legally adopted a child together. This milestone is a direct result of last year’s groundbreaking High Court ruling that the Israel Religious Action Center’s legal team achieved after nearly a decade of advocacy against discriminatory policies that denied LGBTQ couples equal access to adoption.

In the aftermath of October 7, NIF stepped up for marginalized Israelis neglected by the government during the crisis. Following intensive advocacy, NIF, Bimkom: Planners for Planning Rights, Mizrahi Collective, and the Adva Center secured nearly $300 million of the state’s $5.6 billion rehabilitation budget for towns such as Ashkelon, Ofakim, and Netivot. They were initially excluded from the government’s rehabilitation plan, which focused on towns less than 7 miles from the Gaza border.