The New Israel Fund has increased its funding of a series of left-wing organizations and Palestinian aid groups, at least one of which has ties to an organization that supports the boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement. This is according to a new report by right-wing watchdog group Im Tirtzu.

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The report's findings are in contrast to the New Israel Fund's claims to donors "it will not support organizations that call for and support a comprehensive boycott of the State of Israel."

According to Im Tirtzu's Research and Policy division, in 2020 the New Israel Fund gave $125,000 to Baladna – the Association for Arab Youth. According to its Facebook page, Baladna recently collaborated with Qatari-based BDS organization QAYON. According to QAYON's official website, the organization opposes any form of normalization with the "Zionist entity" and runs BDS campaigns. Baladna recently worked with QAYON to organize an event benefitting Palestinians detained during the Israel Defense Forces' Operation Guardian of the Walls. In addition, Baladna is known for its opposition to minorities enlisting in the IDF or national service.

The report further found that the New Israel Fund continues to donate tens of thousands of dollars a year to Combatants for Peace, a self-described anti-occupation" Israeli-Palestinian non-governmental organization. The New Israel Fund increased its funding to Combatants for Peace in 2020, according to the report.

Alon Schwartzer, who heads Im Tirtzu's research and policy division, said: "This is not the New Israel Fund, but the Israel Erasure Fund. The findings of the New Israel Fund's financial reports prove the fund is continuing its support for organizations that act toward the defamation of IDF soldiers, the tying of their hands, and their prosecution at the International Criminal Court at The Hague."

In a statement, the New Israel Fund retorted, "We thank Im Tirtzu for its distorted campaign. In previous instances, these campaigns greatly increased support for us. The New Israel Fund opposes BDS. We will continue to invest in civil-society organizations that work toward justice, equality, and democracy in Israel."

Baladna issued a statement saying: "The association works with youth, and its objectives are clear and detailed in reports and in the media. Within the framework of its activities, a fund that aspires to ensure appropriate legal representation for detainees, a majority of whom are youths, and protect their families from economic decline as a result of the financial burden involved in legal representation, was established."

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A 2019 financial report issued by the New Israel Fund revealed that the left-wing NGO donated millions of shekels to leftist organizations that tried to meddle with the Israeli elections held in April and September that year.

Organizations like Zazim, Standing Together, and Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, used their influence to boost the Left's campaign during the 2019 elections. Records show that during that time, the New Israel Fund increased its financial support of these groups by 75%, compared to the same period in 2018.  

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The Zazim organization operated a transportation system that brought thousands of Bedouin voters to the polls, even though the organization was not registered as an active participant in the elections, something that would have exposed it to strict transparency rules.

On both election days, then-Central Election Committee Chairman Justice Hanan Meltzer issued a restraining order against Zazim's shuttles.

In 2019, Zazim received a donation of 1.2 million shekels ($356,000) – almost twice as much as the previous year and the highest amount since the organization was founded in 2016.

Standing Together, which defines itself as "a political movement that fights for a cohesive alternative to the right," called on the center-left parties' leaders and their representatives to commit to forming a government with the Joint Arab List.

Adalah, which consistently accuses Israel of war crimes, provided legal representation to the Joint Arab List during the 2019 election campaigns, as well aso to now-MK Ofer Kasif, who infamously stated that harming IDF soldiers is legitimate. Adalah received about NIS 320,000 ($95,000) from the NIF. 

Other organizations that received more than double of their yearly donations from the New Israel Fund were the self-declared "liberal" organization Mehazkim; +972 Magazine, a left-wing online magazine; Ikvot, an organization that provides legal support to far-left organizations; Kav LaOved Worker's Hotline, which represents illegal migrants and infiltrators, and Breaking the Silence, and advocacy group targeting Israel's security forces for alleged wrongdoings, which received a grant of about NIS 2.1 million ($623,000), one of the highest donations that the NIF gave to any organization in 2019.

Alon Schvartzer, director of Policy at the right-wing group Im Tirtzu, said, "It is illegal for a foreign company to intervene in the Israeli elections by funding organizations in Israel. This must be stopped."

The New Israel Fund said in a statement, "Israel Hayom's claim is entirely unfounded. From a simple examination of the data, it is evident that there is a difference in support for each of the organizations mentioned, in stark contrast to what has been described. The article focuses on a few of the hundreds of organizations that received support from the New Israel Fund. The NIF does not promote political candidates. It aims to promote equality and justice and a strong Israeli democracy."

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