We Cannot Look Away. These Israelis Aren’t.

by Lauren Zilberman | Jun 9, 2026 | NIF, Shared Society and Combatting Racism

Far too often these days, we see horrific images of the ongoing dispossession of Palestinians in the West Bank at the hands of Jewish settlers, often passively or actively backed by the Israeli army. Witnessing this reality shakes me to my core. I am angry, I am...

NIF Reform Rabbinical Fellow on the Power of Learning

by Lauren Zilberman | May 25, 2026 | NIF

The Elissa Froman Social Change Fellowship, created by the New Israel Fund in the U.S., the Eugene and Janet Lerner Family Foundation, and Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, honours Elissa Froman z”l’s deep commitment to Jewish life and progressive...

Five Thousand People, One Message: It’s Time for Peace

by Lauren Zilberman | May 8, 2026 | NIF, Shared Society and Combatting Racism

The atmosphere was electric. There were art installations, performances, and speeches from a roster of the most inspiring Israeli and Palestinian peacemakers alive today. And there were the people: over five thousand of them, gathered together on a sunny afternoon in...

Getting the Message Out: Shira Ben-Sasson in Israel’s Mainstream Media

by Lauren Zilberman | Apr 24, 2026 | News, NIF

Sharing NIF’s vision of a better, more just future with mainstream Israeli audiences is a crucial part of the organization’s long-term strategy, NIF Director in Israel Shira Ben-Sasson recently made several appearances on prominent Israeli media channels,...

Does This War Have Any Purpose?

by Lauren Zilberman | Mar 27, 2026 | Human and Civil Rights, NIF, Shared Society and Combatting Racism

By: Mickey Gitzin, Acting CEO of the New Israel Fund Just over eight months ago, I was sitting in a shelter in Israel after the first 12-day Israel-Iran-US war. I listened to U.S. President Donald Trump say that the Iranian nuclear program had been “obliterated,”...

My Family Is in a Shelter. Many Families Have None.

by Lauren Zilberman | Mar 13, 2026 | NIF, Shared Society and Combatting Racism, Social and Economic Justice

As I write this, my family is sitting in their shelter in Rishon L’Tzion, taking cover from Iranian bombs. I, on the other hand, am sitting in Trump’s America—in New York City, to be precise, where my two daughters, my husband, and I are safe and sound. As crazy as it...