Justice Minister, Ayelet Shaked, to Clamp Down on New Israel Fund & Radical Left

As usual, the world’s media have it wrong about Israel.  The Jewish State remains a forward-thinking beacon of democracy, equality and justice.  Witness Ayelet Shaked, Israel’s newly appointed justice minister who at the age of 39 is likely one of the few women anywhere in the world to hold such a senior government position.  She’s a secular leader of a religious party, and lives in North Tel Aviv.

The extremists are on the left, holding minimal influence or power, and thankfully, with Shaked’s Jewish Home party now holding senior roles in Netanyahu’s coalition, the radical fringe of the New Israel Fund (NIF), and its ilk are likely to face continued challenges in the very near future.  Their desire to further harm the State of Israel will not be made easier with Shaked in power.

While Israel’s High Court of Justice recently called boycotts such as those supported by the New Israel Fund “economic terrorism,” Shaked noted that “to boycott Israel because of its policies and because Israel wants to defend itself is not only anti-Zionist … it’s 21st century anti-Semitism.”  She rightfully said that boycotting Israel “should be illegal.” In America, one cannot legally practice racism or bigotry – the same rules are likely to be applied to Israel.

A fellow member of Shaked’s Party recently asked for charges to be filed against the husband of the President of the New Israel Fund for committing treason – one can expect this to continue with the new Justice Minister.

Shaked, in an op-ed last year, noted that

the Israeli government, which invests a lot of money in its defense budget, has still not understood that public diplomacy is the new battlefield and that money and resources must be invested to repulse the wave of incitement and lies spread about it around the world. The battlefield of public diplomacy is far more important today to the existence of the State of Israel than a tank battalion or an Apache squadron.

Shaked recognizes the dangers posed by radical extremist leftists.

She further criticized those who

call for an academic and economic boycott of Israel and by presenting petitions against Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers and heads of the security forces. These organizations enjoy a great deal of power and invest millions of euros in their incitement activity — a sort of a “new anti-Semitism.”

That would include organizations like Beyond the Silence – an organization funded by NIF – whose donors include Alisa Doctoroff, the Jim Joseph Foundation, the Leichtag Foundation and others. They will be countered.

Shaked continued: “[F]oreign states damage Israel’s sovereignty with a heavy hand by funding anti-Israeli — not to mention anti-Semitic — organizations, while Israel stands by unable to respond.”  She has proposed a bill – similar to America’s Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA) – which will require foreign countries funding projects in Israel to fax taxes and follow disclosure laws.  They will stop the radical, extremists of the New Israel Fund who are intent on harming the Jewish State.

As Israel’s incoming Justice Minister noted,

These NGOs cause Israel significant international damage, in general, and to Israeli soldiers, in particular, by helping draft petitions presented to various European courts. One such example is the significant contribution of the Adalah organization to the Goldstone Report — Israel is still dealing with the fallout from that document. Another example is the expert opinion provided by the organization in a petition presented to a Spanish court against senior Israeli defense officials. The proposed bill seeks to curb the ability of foreign entities to influence activities of this kind.

She is right, as Democratic consultant Hank Sheinkopf and Netanyahu’s former Chief of Staff George Birnbaum have written often with me, “If you stand with the New Israel Fund, you stand against Israel.”  These dangerous groups funded by the New Israel Fund have a new Sheriff, a new Justice Minister in Jerusalem – and she’s smart, charismatic … and was recently named the best-looking female in the Knesset. 

Shaked will not be silent in the face of haters, having said that,

J Street has taken upon itself the role of Israel’s loudest critic. Among its actions are the leading of a media campaign against the placing of sanctions on Iran by the US Congress; denunciation of the Cast Lead operation and its definition as ‘an illegitimate and even criminal operation’; defining the takeover of the Marmara as ‘brutal and cruel’; support for the US administration’s demand to freeze construction in Jerusalem; pressure on the US administration not to veto the proposal by the Palestinian Authority to denounce Israel for construction in Judea and Samaria and more.

The leader of her party, Education and Diaspora Affairs Minister Naftali Bennett, said,

Yes, New Israel Fund, I will boycott whoever persecutes Israeli soldiers. I will not apologize for it. Members of the New Israel Fund, listen carefully: Whoever harms, slanders and persecutes Israeli soldiers are not my brothers. The NIF works methodically and consistently to attack our Israeli soldiers, accuse them of war crimes of torturing Palestinians and intentionally attacking women and children. They turn to the UN and to the committees that are most hostile to Israel and try their best to convince them that Israel is a war criminal. I repeat: They say that our soldiers- you, I, your friends and your families, your children and their friends – that we are all war criminals. The New Israel Fund invests large amounts of money through its organizations with one purpose- to harm IDF soldiers who are physically protecting us with their bodies.

Ayelet Shaked has rightfully said that the boycotts against Israel are among the greatest threat faced by the country. One should expect that the New Israel Fund will continue to be further ostracized by the Jewish community worldwide.  Those who fund the hate of the NIF must stop acting against the interests of Israel.