From UIA to The Joint, Diaspora supporters in conflict with Israeli government

Core fundraising organisations that support Israel are finding it increasingly difficult to work with the far-Right coalition.

Israel’s National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has cut off funding for a violence reduction program in the Arab community, claiming the major American Jewish organisation subcontracted to help run the effort is a “leftist organisation.”

According to Israel's public broadcaster Kan, Ben-Gvir justified his decision to defund the program on the basis that the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) is a Left-wing Organisation.

Widely known as The Joint, JDC is the leading global Jewish humanitarian organisation and one of the largest Jewish organisations in the world.

Ben Gvir's comments were made during a ministry discussion about the future of the “Stop the Bleeding” program – a joint effort of, among others, the National Security Ministry, the State Attorney’s Office, Hebrew University, and the Prime Minister’s Office.

The program, which was part of a broader government campaign against rising crime in Arab communities, sought to encourage “integration and coordination between enforcement, prevention, treatment and community work” in seven municipalities, including the city of Lod – the site of fierce Arab-Jewish clashes during Operation Guardian of the Walls in May 2021.

National Director of JDC Australia Brett Kaye told The Jewish Independent that JDC had not been alerted to any change and had learned of Ben-Gvir's comments through the media.

He said "Stopping the Bleeding" is an important and successful Israeli government-led program that aims to reduce violence in Arab society.

"The program was conceived by the Israeli government and JDC was invited to develop certain elements in the program and join in its implementation due to our many years of professional experience in the social arena, our work in Arab society in particular, as well as our extensive experience in building integration between various ministries and communities," he said.