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The Israel Policy Forum is a propaganda network that opposes the positions of [[AIPAC]].

The IPF convinced President Barack Obama to support the Saudi Initiative which called for the Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank and East Jerusalem and the return of of Arab refugees to Israel.<ref name="43062lori"/>

==Controversies==

IPF policy director [[M.J. Rosenberg]] was regularly published in [[Al Jazeera]], the state media of [[Qatar]].<ref name="rosenberg_hirschfield"/> Rosenberg was fired from [[Media Matters]] in April 2012 for calling Jewish supporters of Israel "Israel Firsters." [[Media Matters]] vice president [[Ari Rabin-Havt]] described Rosenberg as "a close friend." <ref name="jta_rosenberg_leaves"/>

According to Moshe Dann: <ref name="dann_ipf"/>

: (IPF President) Peter Joseph funds Israel-basher [[Peter Beinart]] through the [[New America Foundation]], one of George Soros’ beneficiaries. The head of the NAF’s [[Middle East Task Force]] is [[Daniel Levy]], who also directs the [[Prospects for Peace Initiative]] at The [[Century Foundation]]. He was one of the key people in the [[Geneva Initiative]], which proposes broad Israeli withdrawal and concessions, and is on the advisory board of [[J Street]]. ... Daniel’s father, [[Sir Michael Levy]], one of [[Portland Trust|Portland Trust's]] senior officers, is a major fundraiser for the British Labor Party, has extensive business and political connections in Israel, like Pres. [[Shimon Peres]], and is a staunch opponent of settlements.

The Israel Policy Forum aggressively supported the candidacy of [[Chas Freeman]] for chairman of the [[National Intelligence Council]].<ref name="ipf_chas_freeman"/> Freeman was on the board of China's state-owned Chinese Oil Company and his detractors accused him of being an agent of Saudi Arabia.<ref name="chas_freeman_controversy">Sammy Benoit, [https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2009/03/the_chas_freeman_controversy.html ''The Chas Freeman Controversy''], The American Thinker, 2009 March 6</ref>

IPF board member [[Stanley P. Gold]] was an advisor to the Shamrock company of [[Abigail Disney]] when Disney announced her support for the [[BDS movement]].<ref name="dann_ipf"/>

The IPF denounced the Report on the Legal Status of Building in Judea and Samaria which found that Israel holds legal title to the West Bank.<ref name="bury_levy_report"/>
: The letter's signatories include philanthropists [[Charles Bronfman]] and [[Lester Crown]]; [[Marvin Lender]], Former National Chairman of UJA; Rabbi [[Daniel Gordis]], President of the Shalem Center; [[Deborah Lipstadt]], an expert on Holocaust studies at Emory University; [[Bernard Nussbaum]], former White House Counsel; [[Thomas Dine]], a former executive director of [[AIPAC]]; [[E. Robert Goodkind]], a former president of the [[American Jewish Committee]]; [[Richard Pearlstone]], former chairman of the [[Jewish Agency]]; and Rabbi [[David Saperstein]], director of the [[Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism]].

==History==

===1990s===

The IPF was founded in 1993 with the support of Israeli Prime Minister [[Yitzhak Rabin]]. Early leaders included:

* [[Jack Bendheim]] - Phibro Animal Health Corp. and PAHC holdings
* [[Jonathan A. Jacoby]] - worked for Credit Suisse and UBS. Later worked for [[Oxfam America]].
* [[S. Daniel Abraham]] - SlimFast billionaire
* [[Sara Ehrman]] - [[Americans for Peace Now]]

===2007===

Officers and directors listed on IPF's 2007 IRS paperwork: <ref name="990_2007"/>

Board

* [[Peter A. Joseph]] - President
* [[Lawrence Zicklin]] - Chair, former head of [[Neuberger Berman]]

Executive committee

* [[Marvin Lender]] - founder of Lender's Bagels
* [[Geoffrey H. Lewis]]
* [[Harriet Mouchly Weiss]]
* [[Henry Ostberg]]
* [[Seymour Reich]]
* [[James Walker III]]

Other officers
* [[David Elcott]] - executive director
* [[M.J. Rosenberg]] - director of policy
* [[Henry Rosovsky]]
* [[Karen Adler]]
* [[Dan Adler]]
* [[Lawrence Bender]]
* [[Mark Biderman]]
* [[Ed Blank]]
* [[Joan Bronk]]
* [[Stanley M. Chesley]]
* [[Matthew Fassler]]
* [[Rabbi Harvey Fields]]
* [[Ernest Ginsberg]]
* [[Stanley P. Gold]]
* [[H.P. Goldfield]]
* [[Sally Gottesman]]
* [[Harold Kandler]]
* [[Steven C. Koppel]]
* [[Murray Koppelman]]
* [[Alan Kronstadt]]
* [[Tom Kully]]
* [[Jacqueline Levine]]
* [[Yaffa Maritz]]
* [[Mike Medavoy]]
* [[Norman Pattiz]]
* [[Debra F. Pell]]
* [[Marcia Riklis]]
* [[Henry Rosovsky]]
* [[Jodi L. Schwartz]]
* [[Ian Slome]]
* [[Terri Smooke]]
* [[Alan D. Solomont]]
* [[Susan Stern]]
* [[S. Donald Sussman]]
* [[Steven Warnecke]]
* [[Alan L. Wurtzel]]
* [[Michael D. Young]]
* [[Aaron Zigelman]]

Honorary chairs:

* [[Jack Bendheim]]
* [[Robert K. Lifton]]
* [[Michael W. Sonnenfeldt]]
* [[Theodore R. Mann]]
* [[Judith Stern Peck]]

===2010===

In 2010 the IPF merged with the [[Center for American Progress]] founded by [[Herb Sandler]] and [[Marion Sandler]].

===2016===

IPF board as of 2016:<ref name="990_2016"/>

* [[Susie Gelman]] - board chair
* [[Robert Goodkind]] - vice chair
* [[Larry Gottlieb]] - treasurer
* [[Alisa Levin]] - secretary
* [[David Halperin]] - executive director
* [[Michael Koplow]] - policy director
* [[Peter Joseph]] - head of [[Palladium Equity Partners]] and [[JLL]]
* [[Charles Bronfman]]
* [[Bob Elman]]
* [[Harold Handler]]
* [[Peter Kolevzon]]
* [[Rabbi Marion Lev Cohen]]
* [[Robert Lifton]]
* [[Dana Linden]]
* [[Adena Philips]]
* [[Ed Robin]]
* [[Jeff Solomon]]
* [[Alan Solow]]
* [[Bob Sugarman]]
* [[James Walker]]
* [[Michael Young]]
* [[Melvyn Weiss]]

===Others===

* [[Nick Bunzl]], Executive Director of IPF, interim executive director and president of Manhattan JCC from 1997-2006, Chairman and Managing Director of [[BTH Ltd]], a London-based international group of companies connected to Sir Michael Levy.

===Funding===

Other IPF funders include:<ref name="dann_ipf"/>

* [[David Avital]] - runs [[MTP Investment Group]] and supports [[Seeds of Peace]] (a pro-Palestinian group) and [[J Street]]
* [[David W. Sussman]] - VP of [[NBC Universal]]
* [[Neil Barsky]] - ran [[Alson Capital Partners]], advises the [[Columbia Journalism Review]]
* [[Marcia Ricklis]] - daughter to [[Mushullam Ricklis]].
* [[Norman Lear]]
* [[David Geffen]]
* [[Michael Medavoy]]
* [[Alan B. Slifka Foundation]]
* [[Tides Foundation]]

==See Also==

* [[Sir Ronald Cohen]]
* [[Talking Points Memo]]
* [[Inclusive America Project]]

==References==

<references>
<ref name="dann_ipf">Moshe Dann,
[https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/140051/israel-policy-forum-network-intrigue-moshe-dann ''Israel Policy Forum: The Network of Intrigue''], Frontpage Mag, 2012 August 9</ref>
<ref name="990_2007">[http://990s.foundationcenter.org/990_pdf_archive/133/133734324/133734324_200712_990.pdf Israel Policy Forum 2007 Form 990]</ref>
<ref name="990_2016">[http://990s.foundationcenter.org/990_pdf_archive/900/900653286/900653286_201612_990.pdf Israel Policy Forum 2016 Form 990]</ref>
<ref name="jta_rosenberg_leaves">Ron Kampeas, [https://www.jta.org/2012/04/06/politics/rosenberg-leaves-media-matters ''Rosenberg leaves Media Matters'', Jewish Telegraphic Agency, 2012 April 6</ref>
<ref name="rosenberg_hirschfield">Rachel Hirshfeld, [http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/153907 ''Watchdog Tied to White House Linked to Al-Jazeera''], 2012 March 19</ref>
<ref name="43062lori">Lori Lowenthal Marcus,
[http://www.pjvoice.com/v43/43062lori.aspx ''Barack Obama embraces Middle East roadmap of the Israel Policy Forum''], Philadelphia Jewish Voice, February 2009 </ref>
<ref name="ipf_chas_freeman">Steven J. Rosen, [https://web.archive.org/web/20120625204054/http://www.meforum.org/blog/obama-mideast-monitor/2009/03/why-is-the-israel-policy-forum-supporting-chas-freeman ''Why is the Israel Policy Forum supporting Chas Freeman?''], Middle East Forum, 2009 March 5</ref>
<ref name="bury_levy_report">Gil Ronen, [http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/157874 ''40 U.S. Jewish Figures to Bibi: Bury Levy Report''], Israel National News, 2012 July 15</ref>
</references>

Israel Policy Forum - Revision history

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