Below is a fact sheet on the latest campaign to delegitimise the New Israel Fund.

In just over a month there will be an election in Israel. This edition of Israel Refocused offers you a reflection on the issues, parties and candidates involved, through the lens of NIF’s core values of democracy, equality and peace.

We have also included a number of tributes to the David Landau z”l who passed away a couple of weeks ago. David was a former editor of Haaretz and the Jerusalem Post, and visited Australia for NIF Australia in 2011.

Finally, if you missed it two weeks ago, you can view video of our event with Bernard Avishai on our YouTube page.

B’shalom,

Liam Getreu (Executive Director) and Dani Miller (Project Officer)

Friends,

We thought we would pass on to you the below invitation from our friends in the Inner West who are hosting prominent Israeli environmentalist Gidon Bromberg on Thursday night.

Gidon's work, supported for many years by the New Israel Fund, is crucial to setting up peace in Israel and Palestine. Friends of the Middle East's work has been globally praised, and Gidon and FOEME were recently profiled by Thomas Friedman in the New York Times.

We know that early January isn't the best time for an event, but if you're around Sydney it would be great to see you there.

Kind regards,

Liam Getreu
Executive Director

On February 1st, we held a webinar with acclaimed writer and academic Bernard Avishai:

2014 will be remembered as a difficult one in Israel’s history. We witnessed a bloody war during which civilians bore the brunt of the toll, horrible hate crimes perpetrated by both Jews and Arabs, and most recently a swathe of anti-democratic legislation. With everything that happened in Israel this year, our partnership to foster democratic values, and support human rights and social justice has never been more crucial.

Throughout 2014, the New Israel Fund and our grantees lowered tensions between Jewish- and Palestinian-Israelis, ensured lines of communication were kept open at the most crucial times, provided protection for the citizens most vulnerable to the dangers of rocket fire from Gaza, and empowered human rights monitors to continue their work.

Donate Today to Support NIF's Work

Our thoughts are dominated by the shocking and horrific attack in Jerusalem this week. Our hearts go out to the families of the victims, and we send our best wishes for a speedy recovery to the wounded. Violence can never be the solution and leads only to more violence.

Here's a great new video from the Kick Racism Out of Israeli Football project, a partnership between NIF and the Israel Football Association.

Welcome to the fourth edition of Israel Refocused!

The first issue explores the High Court's decision that the Holot Detention Centre represents a violation of human rights and has ruled that it be closed. Right wing members of the Netanyahu Government have opposed the decision on the basis that those incarcerated there are not asylum seekers but illegal infiltrators and are devising strategies to circumvent the judicial ruling.

This interview with incoming NIF president -- and NIF Australia's November speaker -- Talia Sasson is part of a larger article entitled "Like Lions They Overcame" on the first two pages of Yediot Achronot's special Yom Kippur supplement, written by leading Israeli journalist Nahum Barnea.

We've reproduced below an English translation of the article.

The New Israel Fund has been working for decades to promote democracy, equality, and justice in Israel. Here's what the children of NIF and SHATIL staff members have to say about it.