Defending Democracy Response

In response to the Israeli government’s attacks on democracy, NIF mobilised an emergency response effort to defend and empower Israeli democracy, charities and leaders.

One of the most significant wins that we saw this year was the Israeli Supreme Court striking down the amendments to the “reasonableness clause”. We are extremely proud of our grantees, such as the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), whose petition was accepted, blocking the government’s plan to overhaul the judiciary and remove basic checks and balances in Israel’s governing system.

 

Emergency Grants

We distributed over £1,200,000 in emergency grants to over 58 organisations.

Among those who received a grant was Standing Together (Omdim Beyachad-Neqaf Ma’an) to fund the first of what became weekly mass protests in Israel, with hundreds of thousands of Israelis coming together in support of Israeli democracy.

 

With Shatil’s guidance, the Anti-Occupation Bloc grew to 25 chapters, with 40 organisations and thousands of people marching weekly. Their work engaged diverse audiences, helping people to understand democracy is not compatible with the Occupation.

A grant to kickstart the first Leftists of Faith conference brought together 600 religious leaders from across Israel, to build a religious response to the threats.

 

Launching the Civil Society Protection Hub

The Civil Society Protection Hub offered services and support to organisations and activists to counter government measures to silence them. This past year they:

 

The Hub also provided mental health support to charity employees who had received threats or were experiencing burnout from the pressures of the crisis. This support was created in collaboration with psychologists, who provided tailored counselling and resilience training.

 

Strengthening Infrastructure

Alongside our urgent efforts to protect civil society and strengthen Israeli democracy, we have continued our ongoing work to develop the leaders, policies and movements necessary to build long-term change.

Seed funded new organisations, such as Zazim, an interfaith movement working with 400,000 members to change the political landscape in Israel.

Partnered with think tanks, such as MitvimZulat and FORTH, to increase the volume of high-quality, credible research that can counter the positions of the government’s anti-democratic policies.

We invested in future leaders to drive social change.  Our grantees in this area have included Qadaya, who work with Palestinian citizens of Israel, and Nivcharot who work to get Haredi women in leadership roles.

 

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