New Israel Fund (NIF) CEO Daniel Sokatch opines that his group has been the victim of “false arguments and dangerous demonization” (‘The Real Anti-NIF Agenda,’ Feb. 16). But Sokatch cannot allege falsehood and demonization if I merely point out that several of the beneficiaries of the New Israel Fund (NIF) are in fact hostile to Israel’s existence as a Jewish state.
These include: Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel and the Mossawa Center, both of which only two years ago proposed constitutional programs for Israel calling for a binational state that would couple an unlimited “right of return” for Palestinians with abolition of the Law of Return.
NIF has also given a stipend to a member of the International Solidarity Movement, which not only promotes divestment, but also justifies Palestinian “armed struggle” [i.e., terrorism] and participates in efforts to impede legitimate Israeli counterterrorist measures. Its co-founder, George Rishmawi, is even on record justifying the “need” for terrorism.
Sokatch may regard such organizations as “human rights groups work[ing] on the most complicated and sensitive issues in Israel,” but most Israelis are likely to take a different view of them and their funding by NIF.
National President
Zionist Organization of America
Philadelphia
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