News Archive

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.