The New Israel Fund is probably the largest progressive foundation in Israel.
Actually, we have gotten some funding from the NIF...
Anyway, the New Israel Fund now states that it "will sever all business ties with the Mercantile-Discount Bank if it does not rescind its plan to collect higher rates of interest from Arab clients than it does from all other clients."
Bryan
-------------------------- New Israel Fund
PRESS RELEASE
The New Israel Fund will sever all business ties with the Mercantile-Discount Bank if it does not rescind its plan to collect higher rates of interest from Arab clients than it does from all other clients.
"We were shocked to hear a report this morning on 'Kol Yisrael' news about MK Hashem Mahmeed's inquiry in the Knesset regarding Mercantile-Discount Bank's stated intention to charge Arabs higher rates of interest than the Bank charges all other clients.
We view this plan as an affront to the values upon which our work is based and in complete contradiction to the spirit of the declaration of independence and the basic laws of the State of Israel.
Therefore, we have decided to immediately sever all connections with the Mercantile-Discount Bank if it does not publish a clear denial of this racist policy. Additionally, we recommend that all of our colleagues follow a similar course of action. The New Israel Fund channels millions of dollars each year through your bank, and this plan proves that you have not internalized the implications of our relationship.
If a satisfactory statement does not reach us within 48 hours and if it does not appear prominently in the press and on the radio we will transfer all of our business to another bank, effective Sunday morning. We will further advise all of our collegues to discontinue all connections with your bank."
So read a letter that NIF Executive Director Eliezer Yaari sent this morning to Professor Shalom Hochman, Executive Director of the Mercantile-Discount Bank.
Independent of any political party or ideology, the New Israel Fund is a philanthropic partnership of Israelis, North Americans and Europeans that works to strengthen Israeli democracy and to ensure equality and social justice for all of Israel's citizens. NIF, thanks to contributions tens of thousands of donors from Israel and abroad, invests 100,000,000 NIS each year in the development of social change organizations in Israel. The NIF Board of Directors is comprised of Israeli citizens and Jews from the Diaspora.
For further information, contact: Jodi Michaels Tel. (972) 2 - 672-3095 Fax - (972) 2 672-3099 C- 058-841-685
NIF website: www.nif.org.il
Anat Ben Ezra
>Media coordinator
>New Israel Fund
>067-848982