Funding the protest Aviv Lavie, Maariv, August 2 2011 A variety of speculations have been made as to who has

financed the tent protest movement since it began a few weeks ago, particularly the role played by the New Israel Fund in the protest. Data and documents that Maariv has obtained indicate that the New Israel Fund did not donate even a single shekel either to the protest tent camp on Rothschild Boulevard or the large demonstration that was held on Saturday night. People at the forefront of the protest camp on Rothschild Boulevard were angered and frustrated in the past number of days to hear increasing allegations as if their protest was a left wing protest that was being given large sums of money from the New Israel Fund. A contributing factor to that sense was a statement that was issued by the New Israel Fund in which it noted that its enlistment alongside the housing protest was a natural course of action for the fund to take. The activists on Rothschild Boulevard didnt know what they were talking about. Some of them now have to cope with their high cellphone bills, others have had to sign personally as guarantors for large sums of money to allow for the equipment needed for the demonstrations in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv to be rented. No one has backed us on those expenses, said one of the activists. We havent asked the New Israel Fund for anything, and nor have we received an agora. This is a protest that is being staged with almost no budget, with a lot of volunteerism and the help of good people, and when there are expenses, they are covered mainly by private donations. A document that itemizes the sums that the New Israel Fund has given thus far to the protestors indicates that the camp on Rothschild Boulevard hasnt received any funds to date. In total, the New Israel Fund has thus far given a sum of USD 10,250 (approximately NIS 35,000), that have been divided among ten tent encampments, including the ones in Jerusalem, Ashdod, Herzliya, Jaffa, Hatikva neighborhood and Levinsky neighborhoods in southern Tel Aviv. Each encampment has received an average of NIS 3,500, a sum that has allowed for basic equipment to be bought. We dont initiate sponsorship, said one official in the New Israel Fund. When we receive a request, it is weighed on the basis of its merits, and a decision is made as to the scope of support. We havent received a request from the tent camp on Rothschild Boulevard so far, and that is why that issue hasnt even been put on the agenda. In response to the question as to why the New Israel Fund had seemingly professed its ownership over the protest, while its actual support for the protest was quite limited, a source in the New Israel Fund explained that the fund has supported for years socially-oriented organizations and non-profit organizations that work to achieve affordable housing and a more equitable division, including the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, the Coalition for Affordable Housing and others. Moreover, consultants for Shatil (support and organizational counseling for organizations) have been working with the protest camps across Israel and have helped them. So if the money isnt coming from the New Israel Fund, how was the large protest on Saturday night financed? To put on a demonstration costs a significant amount of money to cover the costs of amplification, a stage, a screen, transportation, security and other costs. According to a summary of the costs of the demonstration, which was calculated by the leaders of the Rothschild Boulevard protest, the demonstration on Saturday night cost NIS 44,000. Some of the activists privately signed as guarantors for the principal sum of NIS 38,000, which was paid to rent the stage and other equipment, on the assumption that they would be able to raise that sum from donations that would be given in the course of the demonstration. Indeed, after a fundraising drive was announced from the stage, a total of NIS 40,000 was collected.

There were jars there, said one of the activists, and people simply stepped up and put in bills and coins. There was a lot of excitement there, and that manifested itself in the willingness to take part in the costs. Alongside of donations from demonstrators, the costs were also covered by the Dror Leyisrael non-profit organization, which paid for security costs, and the Six Colors non-profit organization (which supports the gay community in Israel), which paid NIS 2,000 for cordons. Photograph equipment, electricity and posters that were hung in the street were paid for by means of private companies, and the Histadrut sent 15 buses. We came to the conclusion that a public struggle without money is the most effective, said one of the activists. We dont have ads in the newspapers, we dont have billboards, or commercials. Nothing was bought with money, and that makes it more credible.