News Archive

The Dan David Foundation has been following with growing concern and alarm the development of the war in Gaza. We join the many voices in Israel and across the world calling for an immediate end to this conflict, which is causing unbearable suffering and a terrible loss of life. Until a ceasefire is agreed upon by both parties, humanitarian aid to the residents of Gaza must not be blocked or restricted, and civilian lives must be protected. We support diplomatic efforts that will lead to an immediate end to hostilities and the return of the hostages, as well as the beginning of a serious diplomatic process for a just and lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

The Dan David Foundation is deeply concerned by the circumstances that led to the cancellation of Israel’s 49th Annual Archaeological Conference. As a foundation that has long supported archaeological research in Israel, we consider the attempt by a minister in the Israeli government to exclude a scholar from the conference an unacceptable act of political interference.

The Foundation commends the decision by the archaeological community to support their colleague and postpone the conference in response to the pressure.

We believe researchers in all fields should be allowed to undertake and present their work free from political interference and irrespective of their own political views.

DAN DAVID CITIZEN SUPPORT GRANTS

Following its announcement of October 16, 2023, the foundation allocated $1 million to civil society relief efforts for people affected by the October 7, 2023 attacks on the communities near the Gaza border and across Israel, and the ensuing war. After careful consideration, the Foundation has distributed the funds among the following organizations and their respective projects:

The helpline of NATAL – Israel Trauma & Resiliency Center received nearly 10,000 calls in the first five days following Oct 7. Since then, the organization has significantly increased its capacity to offer help to thousands of people using its distinctive model of multidisciplinary psychological support.

The Al Hamishmar (On Guard) initiative is a proactive, multi-faceted emergency prevention program designed to combat escalating violence between Arabs and Jews amid rising national tensions following Oct 7. Founded by a collective of foundations, the program utilized civil society organizations and local leadership to calm tensions in known flashpoints, launched anti-violence media campaigns, established a presence on university campuses and offered training to other organizations.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, established on Oct 8, is a civil organization that campaigns for the safe return of the hostages being held in Gaza. The forum comprises thousands of volunteers from the families of the hostages and their networks, as well as prominent figures from the security, judicial, diplomatic, creative, advertising and welfare sectors. Activities include support for families of hostages and advocating for their return via rallies, events, media campaigns and meetings with international and local leaders.

The Road to Recovery’s model of peacebuilding involves connecting Israeli volunteers with grievously ill Palestinians with the shared goal of obtaining life-saving medical care inside Israel. The volunteers are tasked with arranging the travel and other logistical aspects of the treatment of the Palestinian patients; in parallel, patients and their volunteer drivers dismantle negative stereotypes and misperceptions of the ‘other’ and foster hope and trust. The organization worked to upscale its efforts despite the complexities of operating during the war.

The Science Training Encouraging Peace – Graduate Training Program (STEP) funds stipends for pairs of Palestinian and Israeli science students in challenging and intensive PhD/MS/MD programs with the goal of fostering enduring professional and personal relationships of respect and trust. Other goals include promoting an ethos of cooperative science between Israelis and Palestinians within university laboratories and departments.

The staff of Amcha, Israel’s largest psychosocial service for Holocaust survivors and their descendants, used their expertise to provide emergency support to mental health workers, social workers, medical teams and other first responders working to support victims of the war, while simultaneously providing ongoing care to Holocaust survivors re-living their original trauma in the face of new trauma.

The Social Venture Fund for Jewish-Arab Equality and Shared Society, a philanthropic collaboration to support an equal and inclusive shared society in Israel, launched an emergency fund to prevent incitement and inter-communal violence, and to support communities outside the traditional social service and crisis safety net, notably Bedouin towns and villages in the south.

The Israel Center for Education Innovation, which specializes in turning around underperforming Jewish and Arab elementary schools serving low income communities, upped its efforts to support areas hardest hit by the war, especially those living through the trauma of constant missile attacks and displacement. This included providing laptops for students and creating a new position at the organization to promote resilience and social emotional learning.

Tel Aviv University’s Emergency Fund supported services for students and members of the TAU community directly affected by the attacks and ensuing war, including drives for food, clothing and medical supplies, psychological therapy and free temporary housing for evacuees.

Tzedek Centers, which work to create democratic infrastructure to empower local communities, shifted energies following Oct 7 to providing housing solutions for evacuees, including services specifically catering to Russian-speakers. The organization subsequently developed a more comprehensive aid program for evacuees from the south and north of Israel.

The University of Haifa’s Faculty of Law offered stipends and scholarships to students who were displaced, injured or otherwise affected by the war. In addition, the faculty’s legal clinic mobilized to assist those harmed by the Oct 7 attack and the war, operating in various spheres including human rights, women’s rights, poverty law and anti-discrimination – in parallel strengthening relations between Arab and Jewish students who worked side by side in the clinic.

Shortly after Oct 7, a group of PhD students in the School of Historical Studies at Tel Aviv University came together to consider how to collect and preserve testimonies of those directly affected. The result was the creation of the Israeli Testimonial Archive of the 7th October Hamas Attack, which aims to provide an independent and research-orientated archival platform to host testimonials, alongside other digital documentation. The archive will focus in particular on the civil society reaction to events.

Many residents of Moshav Manot, a village in northern Israel, fled their homes following Oct 7 due to the frequent rocket attacks by Hezbollah. As a result, many families experienced severe economic distress. The Foundation has a long-standing relationship with the community, having supported archeological digs in the area.

Students, staff and alumni of Sapir College, located less than two miles from the Gaza border, were among those murdered, severely injured or taken hostage on Oct 7. Many others were evacuated from their homes and housed in temporary accommodation; some lost sources of income. The college created the Emergency Student Stipend Program to address the needs of disadvantaged students affected by the war, offering tuition waivers and other financial support to eligible students.

Fake Reporter is a non-profit organization dedicated to combating malicious online activities, such as disinformation and hate speech. Following Oct 7, using a unique work model based on quickly detecting, analyzing and reporting, the group expanded its efforts to monitor and expose the increased wave of extremist groups spreading misinformation through messages and videos.

JAR (Jaffa Artists Residency) is a program aimed at nurturing young artists from Israel and abroad. The residency created a special intake of its 3-month program for young musicians from the southern city of Sderot and its environs who were evacuated or otherwise directly affected by the events of Oct 7. Participants were offered intensive professional guidance and housing for the duration of the 3-month program, along with opportunities to record an album and perform.

Early Starters International is an educational humanitarian organization that aims to provide a healthy environment to young children in emergency situations and vulnerable communities around the world. Following the Oct 7 attacks, the group established and staffed 17 safe spaces for internally displaced children in Israel.

The Dan David Prize, the largest history prize in the world and the Foundation’s flagship project, has announced its 2024 Laureates. Following an open nomination process, a global committee of experts selected nine researchers whose work illuminates the past in bold and creative ways. Each winner received $300,000 to recognize their outstanding work to date and to support their future endeavors.

For more information about the winners: www.dandavidprize.org.

Following its announcement of Aug. 2, 2023, the Foundation allocated $1 million to support education programs and other activities run by civil society and non-governmental organizations that seek to promote democratic, liberal and secular values in Israel.

After careful consideration, the Foundation has distributed the funds among the following organizations and their respective projects:

·       Democracy - It's in Our Hands! is a new initiative by the Adam Institute to develop a volunteer-run training program aimed at protecting and enriching Israel's democracy.

·       The Association for Civil Rights in Israel has set up an initiative to counter the ongoing attacks on democracy and freedom within the Israeli education system.

·       Connecting for Impact is a new project of the National Council of Jewish Women, aimed at strengthening the Israeli feminist ecosystem by nurturing peer learning and collaborative leadership among feminist changemakers.

·       The Pumbi Civic Theatre is a new Jerusalem-based project dedicated to promoting liberal and democratic values among young audiences.

·       The Forum for Regional Thinking runs a program in Israeli high schools to strengthen democracy and address the inequality between Jews and Arabs in Israel and in the West Bank.

·       The Israeli Movement is creating a network of Neighborhood Councils aimed at empowering local communities to take ownership of their civil needs.

·       Qadayana is the new youth track of Qadaya, a leadership initiative to promote community responsibility and expand civic participation among Arab citizens in Israel, with the goal of advancing social and economic justice.

·       Israel Hofsheet, which promotes religious freedom and battles religious coercion, has launched a project to thwart attempts to introduce extremist agendas into educational institutions.

·       Tel Aviv Youth University is launching a series of Science and Society Exposure Days, which include a focus on democratic values, for high school students from Israel’s periphery.

·       Givat Haviva – which works to create a Jewish and Arab shared society anchored in principles of mutual respect, trust, pluralism and intrinsic equality between citizens – is running training programs for educators, and for facilitators in Jewish-Arab encounters.

·       The Secular Forum has established programs to combat religious indoctrination and discrimination against women in the army and in state-run schools.

·       Tzedek Centers, which work to create democratic infrastructure to empower local communities, have launched training programs in three cities for Russian-speaking Israelis.

·       Mifras, which encourages creativity and innovation in education, has launched an intensive program to help school principals promote democratic civic education.

·       Shabibat AJEEC is a youth movement run by AJEEC-NISPED, aimed at equipping young Bedouin Arabs with tools for self-development, leadership, social change and a sense of agency.

·       Part of the New Israel Fund, which supports a wide range of social justice causes, the Democracy Taskforce is a 100-member group of NGO staff and others working actively to fight anti-democratic trends in Israel.

·       Haredim La’Medina, which aims to introduce values of democracy, equality, justice and inclusivity to ultra-Orthodox Jews (Haredim), is launching a new program to offer democracy training to senior Haredi educators in Israel.

·       The Movement for Freedom of Information is establishing a new Active Citizenship program to equip law and communication students at Sapir Academic College with tools and knowledge to utilize the Freedom of Information Act.

·       Programs for Jewish and Arab teachers run by the Jerusalem-based peacebuilding organization, the Rossing Center for Education and Dialogue, aim to embed principles of inclusivity at all levels of the education system.

·         Hechalutz - Hamidrasha at Oranim, a leadership-building movement in the spirit of the chalutzim (Israeli pioneers), peaceful Zionism and humanistic secular Judaism, runs Seeds of Partnership, which invites young Jews and Arabs to work on mutual goals, and other programs for students.

·       BaShaar – Academic Community for Israeli Society aims to promote and foster academic and liberal values through a variety of channels including education outreach, position papers and a hotline for safeguarding academic freedom.

Following the horrific attacks perpetrated by Hamas terrorists in the communities near the Gaza border and across the rest of Israel, the Dan David Foundation has allocated $1 million in donations to civil society relief efforts and reconstruction projects for the people affected.

This amount is in addition to the $1 million in grants, announced in August, dedicated to strengthening democratic and liberal values in Israel and which are in the process of being disbursed.

Details on both programs will be published in the “other projects” section of the Foundation’s website soon.

The Dan David Foundation continues to follow with dismay the political developments in Israel, where the government has succeeded in pushing through the first element of a judicial overhaul that has been widely criticized as endangering the balance of powers and undermining the democratic foundations of the state.

The Foundation joins the many concerned and friendly voices across the world calling on the Israeli government to put an end to its uncompromising and illiberal legislative push, which has created an unprecedented rift within the country. 

We are particularly shocked by the Education Minister’s ongoing attempt to seize control of the Council for Higher Education, a move that endangers the independence and viability of Israeli universities, which are one of the country’s greatest success stories and are internationally recognized for academic excellence. 

In light of the latest developments and our own statement dated March 6 on this matter, the Foundation’s Board has made the following decisions:

• Until further notice, the Foundation will not support or participate in any new project run by the Israeli government or government-controlled entities.
• For clarity, Israeli universities, which operate independently under the Council for Higher Education, will not be included in the above provision, as long as their independence is preserved.
• The Foundation has decided to allocate $1 million to support education programs and other activities run by civil society and non governmental organizations that seek to promote democratic, liberal and secular values in Israel. Applications, submitted by invitation only, are now being considered by the Board. Further details on the grants will be made public on the Dan David Foundation website under the “other projects” section in due course.

The 2023 Dan David Prizes were awarded at a festive ceremony at Tel Aviv University. For the second time, the prize was given in its reimagined format and was awarded to nine outstanding early and mid career historians and practitioners who investigate the human past. The winners received USD 300,000 each to support their work in illuminating the past.

For more information about the winners: www.dandavidprize.org

Photo Credits: Guy Yechiely

March 6, 2023

Since its establishment, the Dan David Foundation has supported numerous projects in Israel –in cultural, scientific, educational and environmental fields – all in the spirit of its founder, Dan David, who believed in nurturing and protecting the democratic, secular and liberal values on which the state was founded.

The Foundation is following with growing concern the political developments in Israel and particularly the government’s attempts to push through judicial and constitutional reforms that would fundamentally alter the character of the state, as well as the increasingly inflammatory and racist rhetoric by some government ministers and politicians.

There is broad consensus among international and Israeli intellectuals, legal experts and other academics that the proposed measures would undermine the principles of equality and the checks and balances that are key to the survival of any democracy.

We share this view and support the struggle by many in Israel’s civil society to halt the passage of the controversial legislation through peaceful protest. We especially appreciate the strong stance taken by Tel Aviv University, the Foundation’s partner in many of its Israel-based projects, whose leadership has, on multiple occasions, condemned the planned reforms as a threat to democracy as well as academic freedom and research.

We join the calls by other philanthropists, charities and supporters of Israel around the world for the Israeli government to reconsider its plans.

As a result of the situation, the Foundation is reevaluating its donation policies in Israel. Should some or all the planned reforms be approved, the Foundation reserves the right to stop investing in new projects in the country.