The Ford Foundation gave its second $20 million grant to the New Israel Fund.
Ford announced the grant to the Israeli civil rights group on Thursday. The New Israel Fund has spent some $200 million dollars over the past 28 years to fund organizations that promote democracy and human equality in Israel. Its primary causes in recent years have been rights for Israeli Arabs, women and the poor.
This Ford Foundation gave another $20 million grant to the Fund in 2003, creating the Ford Israel Fund. The Ford fund has three stated goals, according to the NIF Web site: Promoting civil and human rights in Israel, promoting equality for the Palestinian minority in Israel and promoting a peacful resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It has financed 40 organizations.
“The New Israel Fund is intensely gratified by the renewal of our partnership with the Ford Foundation,” said Peter Edelman, the NIF chairman. “Our combined expertise and shared commitment to the values of social justice has had a tremendous impact on Israeli civil society.”
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