NIF Connections to Letter in Favor of UK Recognition of Palestinian State
On October 13, 2014, the British Parliament will hold a symbolic, non-binding vote on whether the UK should recognize the State of Palestine, even in the absence of a negotiated peace agreement with Israel. The Board of Deputies of British Jews, pro-Israel MPs, and Members of Knesset from the Labor Party warned that such unilateral actions would hamper prospects for peace in the region.
In response, “363 Israeli public figures,” many connected to the New Israel Fund (NIF), “have signed a letter to the Members of the British Parliament, calling upon them to vote in favor of British recognition of a Palestinian State.”
Known signatories include:
- Yehuda Shaul of Breaking the Silence, an NGO very active outside of Israel that receives funding from NIF ($83,993 authorized in 2013). Shaul was one of the initiators of this letter;
- Amiram Goldblum, an NGO activist and member of NIF’s International Council;
- Five additional members of NIF’s International Council: Daniel Kahneman, David Har’el, Yehoshua Kolodny, Ilan Baruch, and Michael Ben-Yair;
- Rafi Walden, chair of NIF grantee Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHR-I);
- Yuval Rahamim and Yitzhak Frankenthal, both involved with grantee Parents Circle Families Forum;
- Former NIF president Naomi Chazan
Goldblum and Baruch, as well as Alon Liel (another initiator of this letter), were also responsible for the October 2012 “push” poll, which used faulty and manipulative methodology to falsely allege that Israelis would support apartheid in Israel.