Former S.F. federation head Brian Lurie becomes NIF chief

Published on July 2, 2012

Rabbi Brian Lurie, the former CEO of the San Francisco-area Jewish federation, has become president of the New Israel Fund.

There’s more than one way to support the Jewish state

By Jonah Lowenfeld
Published on April 25, 2012

In the landscape of American Jewish organizations, The New Israel Fund (NIF) has long occupied a prominent place on the left side of the aisle. Back in 1979, almost three decades before the “pro-Israel, pro-peace” lobby J Street was established, when Peter Beinart was still in elementary school, NIF began supporting Israeli-based non-profits that advanced the Jewish and democratic identity of Israel.

For Murray Koppelman, a distasteful Tehran scene inspires a gift to New Israel Fund

Published on April 23, 2012

Murray Koppelman saw women pushed onto the back of a bus in Tehran and had a nightmare about Israel’s future.

U.S. Jewish groups against Israel’s boycott law consulting on next steps

Published on July 19, 2011

American Jewish groups that have spoken out against Israel’s new anti-boycott law aren't stopping there -- now they're speaking with each other on further responses.

NIF changes funding guidelines, but what does it mean?

Published on September 21, 2010

When Adalah, an Israeli Arab legal rights group, joined an initiative in 2007 to create an Israeli constitution that would dilute -- if not remove -- the state's Jewish character, it unleashed a furor in pro-Israel circles.

Livni must demonstrate new type of leadership

Published on September 25, 2008

The test of her leadership rests on her ability to move Israeli-Palestinian negotiations to an equitable and durable conclusion

Banking on Israel’s future—from Brentwood

By Danielle Berrin
Published on July 3, 2008

The earnest message was delivered in an opulent setting. First, the customary cocktails and hors d'oeuvres were served in the Sheinbaum's plush backyard, where a clover-shaped pool, statues and sculptures seemed fixed into the landscape of the Brentwood Hills.

New Israel Fund renews local presence after four-year hiatus

By Tom Tugend
Published on November 1, 2007

Ronit Heyd, joined by Ilana Litvak, who came to Israel from the former Soviet Union, and Nidal Abed El Gafer, a Palestinian lawyer, were in Los Angeles last week as three "connected" Israelis, working to empower their country's underprivileged and raise the level of civic involvement. Their presence at a roundtable was sponsored by the New Israel Fund (NIF), which has just raised its Los Angeles profile by reestablishing a local office, after a four-year hiatus.

New Israel Fund Honors Rabbi Susan Laemmle

By Michael Aushenker
Published on May 27, 1999

Last week, Rabbi Richard Levy, executive director of the Los Angeles Hillel Council, introduced to the Central Conference of American Rabbis in Pittsburgh a new Reform movement manifesto. And according to Rabbi Susan Laemmle, that's not his only contribution to Reform. For without Rabbi Levy -- her mentor and former superior -- there may never have been a Rabbi Laemmle.