Here’s the story: On 7 June, the New Israel Fund announced “a compromise agreement submitted to the Jerusalem District Court for approval”. This was in the context of “a huge class action lawsuit” which the Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC) brought against the Gett Taxi app.
Israel Religious Action Center is a New Israel Fund organization. The New Israel Fund said the agreement would require Gett Taxi to eliminate its Gett Mehadrin service. This service does not drive on Shabbat and the Fund regards the service as discriminatory against Arabs. Also, Gett Taxi would be obliged to pay at least NIS 6 million as “compensation”. These millions would be paid to Arab taxi drivers -- and also to “two NGOs that promote shared living between Jews and Arabs”. Both are New Israel Fund organizations.
The Reform movement’s Zionist arm praised the development, accusing Israel of racism and advocating the concept of Israel as “a state for all its citizens”. New Israel Fund’s “Religious Action Center” , they said, had taken “a big step against racism in the Jewish State”.
The Reform movement also reported proudly that they had just protested against the presence of representatives of the Government of Israel in New York. “Theirs is a Zionism of chauvinism and supremacy, ... ethnic domination ... whereby one ethic group rules over another”, said the Reform movement. They urged that “Zionism must ... aspire to ... equality for ‘all its citizens’” which is “beyond a mere respectability to its non-Jewish populace”.
The two “New Israel Fund” organizations which will receive the money are Hand in Hand, a network of Jewish-Arab schools, and Access Israel which ostensibly does no more than promote rights for the disabled. However, Access Israel in fact works behind the scenes to radicalize the disabled they are helping. For example, in 2015, an Access Israel manager announced on the New Israel Fund website that his organization would “produce a series of online lectures in sign language about the phenomenon of racism”, adding that “Shatil is a wonderful arena for activism”. All New Israel Fund groups are organized by Shatil.
The court, in my opinion, should not be waving millions of shekels in the direction of the New Israel Fund. Here are five reasons why:
First, Jews should be entitled to prefer businesses that keep Shabbat. This is the Jewish state. Preference is not necessarily discrimination.
Second, the court should not second-guess the judgment of passengers who are fearful for their safety. This, and not racism, is the reason for reluctance of some to travel with Arab drivers. There have been incidents in the past.
Third, the court should not draw far-reaching conclusions from a single statement recorded secretly from a single manager at Gett Mehadrin.
Fourth, even if the court insists on branding the service as “discriminatory” and “racist”, it is controversial enough for the court to “eliminate” this service given to the Orthodox population in deference to Arab drivers lined up by a political organization like the New Israel Fund. It is extremely inappropriate for a court to, additionally, move funds in the direction of the (grantees of) the New Israel Fund who were the ones who filed the suit to begin with. If Gett wants to donate to this progressive organization’s grantees, let them do so of their own free will.
Fifth, this sort of lawsuit increases the cost of doing business in Israel by making it expensive to try to do anything for the Orthodox.
Sixth, the lawsuit unfairly disparages Israel as allegedly being a discriminatory, racist society. This is why the lawsuit should be firmly discouraged by the court, and not rewarded with the proposed “agreement”.
Susie Dym is a spokesperson for Mattot Arim, an Israeli NGO, working toward peace-for-peace since 1992.