B'tselem and NIF and the MFA on Transparency Legislation

As a colleague phrased it,

The Associate Director New Israel Fund believes that Israel should stop being a Jewish state — even in the basic sense of having a majority Jewish population — because only with a majority Arab population will it be truly democratic.


The New Israel for which the New Israel Fund strives is an Arab Israel.


The New Israel Fund believes that democracy forbids Jews being a majority in any state, even Israel.

In other words, I'm adding, the NIF is anti-Jewish Israel. 

You don't believe it.

You don't believe it?

Believe it:

From Wikileaks:-

¶6. (C) B'Tselem Director Jessica Montell, who estimated her 9 million NIS ($2.4 million) budget is 95 percent funded from abroad, mostly from European countries, told PolOff on February 10 that she did not believe the legislation would pass in its current form. ACRI's International Communication and Development Coordinator, Melanie Takefman, also told PolOff on February 10 that she believed the troublesome legislation would be amended and that the NGOs would likely be able to influence the draft legislation so that it would achieve its goal of greater transparency without restricting the NGOs' ability to operate. Both denied any need for greater transparency, but said they would welcome it if it applied equally to all NGOs, including NGO-Monitor and especially Jewish settler organizations.

¶7. (C) New Israel Fund (NIF) Associate Director in Israel Hedva Radovanitz, who manages grants to 350 NGOs totaling about 18 million dollars per year, told PolOff on February 23 that the campaign against the NGOs was due to the "disappearance of the political left wing" in Israel and the lack of domestic constituency for the NGOs. She noted that when she headed ACRI's Tel Aviv office, ACRI had 5,000 members, while today it has less than 800, and it was only able to muster about 5,000 people to its December human rights march by relying on the active staff of the 120 NGOs that participated. Radovanitz commented that the NIF was working behind the scenes through many NGOs to prevent the NGO legislation from passing in its current form. She commented that she believed that in 100 years Israel would be majority Arab and that the disappearance of a Jewish state would not be the tragedy that Israelis fear since it would become more democratic. She also said the NIF was currently re-evaluating its strategy and was hoping to create a movement rather than just a lot of NGOs. She said the NIF had no plans to build a human rights constituency within the right wing of Israeli society, though she believed politics had shifted to the right for the foreseeable future.

¶8. (C) The Ministry of Justice Director for Human Rights and Relations with International Organizations, Hila Tene, told PolOff in a February 10 meeting that she and the MOJ team that sit on a weekly legislative review panel would be strongly advising against the proposed legislation. She did not believe the broad definition of political activity would be included in the draft that would emerge from the Constitution and Law subcommittee. She also mentioned the vast amount of proposed legislation by the current Knesset that has failed to ever become law. The MFA Director for Human Rights and UN Issues, Simona Halperin, also told PolOff on February 11 that the MFA would be advising against the legislation. She asked for comparative legislation from the U.S. regarding NGOs and the registration of foreign agents.

All nice Jews, eh?

UPDATE

For Immediate Release
September 5, 2011
Wikileaks: US Cable quotes NGO Monitor and NGOs;
NIF official:“disappearance of a Jewish state would not be [a] tragedy”

JERUSALEM – A confidential cable from the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv released by Wikileaks, contains controversial comments by a New Israel Fund (NIF) official, relating to Israel’s future as a Jewish state...
“These comments from a high ranking NIF official reiterates the serious questions regarding NIF’s commitment to Jewish self-determination and Israel as a Jewish state,” said Prof. Gerald Steinberg, president of NGO Monitor. “NIF is the most powerful non-governmental actor in Israel, and its policies affect millions of Israelis, without providing any accountability or checks and balances...
More broadly, the cable reflects the centrality of the lack of transparency regarding European government funding for Israeli political NGOs reflects, including their role in the “war crimes” accusations used in the discredited Goldstone report...According to the cable, Radovanitz further stated that “NIF had no plans to build a human rights constituency within the right wing of Israeli society, though she believed politics had shifted to the right for the foreseeable future.” On this point, Prof. Steinberg added, “This reinforces extensive evidence that the current leadership of the NIF sees their primary function as a narrow political opposition group, rather promoting democratic and civic values in all sectors of Israeli society.”

NGO Monitor also notes that the cable identifies Radovanitz as a former employee of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), a recipient of nearly $1.3 million in NIF funding in 2009-10. Radovanitz was also the manager of Physicians for Human Rights–Israel (PHRI), and is on the board of Hamoked: Center for the defence of the individual, another NIF organization that promotes “war crimes” and similar allegations.

_______________

UPDATE

The NIF response:

...Ms. Radanovitz is no longer an employee of the New Israel Fund; she left her position almost a year ago. Her comments, as reported by Wikileaks, are her personal views. They do not reflect the policies or positions of the New Israel Fund. We valued Hedva’s contribution to NIF, but it also true that her viewpoints diverged from those of the organization...

Here's her statement.

I wonder how long she was employed.

And she was hired after being Executive Director, Physicians for Human Rights/Israel, a fairly nasty anti-Israel group.

VS adds to me:

How did Hedva Radanovitz's "personal views" affect NIF grants in the period of her employment?

Can we get a list of all their current employees whose private views are similar to those of Hedva Radanovitz?

Who was responsible for hiring Hedva Radanovitz, an individual whose personal perspectives are apparently so contrary to NIF principles? What happened to him/her?

What steps have you taken to ensure that your employees are not personally undermining the NIF's mission in their free time?

^