Israel Policy Forum
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.[1]
Contents
Controversies
IPF policy director M.J. Rosenberg was regularly published in Al Jazeera, the state media of Qatar.[2] 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." [3]
According to Moshe Dann: [4]
- (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'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.[5] 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.[6]
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.[4]
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.[7]
- 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: [8]
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:
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:[9]
- 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:[4]
- 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
References
- ↑ Lori Lowenthal Marcus, Barack Obama embraces Middle East roadmap of the Israel Policy Forum, Philadelphia Jewish Voice, February 2009
- ↑ Rachel Hirshfeld, Watchdog Tied to White House Linked to Al-Jazeera, 2012 March 19
- ↑ Ron Kampeas, [https://www.jta.org/2012/04/06/politics/rosenberg-leaves-media-matters Rosenberg leaves Media Matters, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, 2012 April 6
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Moshe Dann, Israel Policy Forum: The Network of Intrigue, Frontpage Mag, 2012 August 9
- ↑ Steven J. Rosen, Why is the Israel Policy Forum supporting Chas Freeman?, Middle East Forum, 2009 March 5
- ↑ Sammy Benoit, The Chas Freeman Controversy, The American Thinker, 2009 March 6
- ↑ Gil Ronen, 40 U.S. Jewish Figures to Bibi: Bury Levy Report, Israel National News, 2012 July 15
- ↑ Israel Policy Forum 2007 Form 990
- ↑ Israel Policy Forum 2016 Form 990
