Non-profit

Jewish Voice for Peace

Website:

www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/

Location:

Berkeley, CA

Tax ID:

90-0018359

Tax-Exempt Status:

501(c)(3)

Budget (2021):

Revenue: $2,882,791
Expenses: $2,535,952
Assets: $2,837,801

Type:

Pro-Palestinian Activist Group

Formation:

2003

Executive Director:

Stefanie Fox

Contact InfluenceWatch with suggested edits or tips for additional profiles.

Jewish Voice for Peace is a left-wing, nominally Jewish group that opposes U.S. assistance to the state of Israel and supports allowing Palestinians to live on land within Israel vacated by Arabs during the Israeli War of Independence. The group supports the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement to delegitimize and isolate the Jewish state.

The group “unequivocally oppose[s] Zionism.” 1 This stance has put it at odds with other left-of-center Jewish groups, notably the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which has taken to tracking its activities together with those of other anti-Israel groups, such as the radical-left Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). ADL claims that JVP campus chapters “work closely with SJP” and that JVP “strenuously advocates for the eradication of … a connection to Israel from the lives of Jews worldwide.” 2 The right-of-center Zionist Organization of America has also attacked JVP for its apparent ties to radical pro-Palestine groups, as well as for including notable far-left anti-Israel activists such as Judith Butler and Noam Chomsky on its advisory board. 3

Background

Jewish Voice for Peace is an organization highly critical of the state of Israel. It explicitly seeks to create “a wedge” within the American Jewish community to weaken broader American support for Israel. 4

The organization’s position toward the existence of Israel as a Jewish state is hostile: In 2017, the organization produced a booklet, Confronting Zionism; A Collection of Personal Stories featuring 13 JVP members writing about their change of heart from supporting to opposing Zionism. 5 In 2019, the group adopted a declaration that says, “Jewish Voice for Peace is guided by a vision of justice, equality and freedom for all people. We unequivocally oppose Zionism because it is counter to those ideals.” 6

The organization states “The United States must stop supporting repressive policies in Israel and elsewhere,” and that “U.S. military aid to Israel must be suspended until the occupation ends.” 7

Opposition to Mainstream Jewish Organizations

The organization launched a “return the birthright” campaign to push younger Jews to boycott Birthright Israel, which offers free first-time trips to Israel for Jewish students around the world. 8

JVP targeted a number of mainstream Jewish organizations including the left-of-center Anti-Defamation League as part of its “Stop the Deadly Exchange” campaign. The campaign targets U.S. cities that have police officer exchange programs with Israeli cities and the mainstream Jewish groups that facilitate them.

The group produced a video in which the narrator says: “Who is making this deadly exchange possible? The main groups are actually U.S.-based Jewish organizations. … Who’s going on these exchanges? Officers who lead police departments that brutalize black and brown communities.” 9 In 2019, JVP claimed to have collected 21,823 signatures calling on the Anti-Defamation League to end its police exchange program with Israel. 10

Durham, North Carolina, canceled its exchange program after demands from JVP, which blamed the program for racial profiling in both countries. 11

Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions

The JVP is a strong advocate of the movement to boycott, divest from and impose sanctions on Israel, also known as the BDS movement. The group has encouraged universities, colleges and Christian churches to endorse the BDS movement. 12

Prior to 2015, Jewish Voice for Peace professed that it only supported boycotts of Israeli settlements in territories controlled by Israel after the 1967 Six-Day War. Since that time, the group has endorsed a boycott of all of Israel. 13

JVP participated in a “block the boat” demonstration to prevent Israeli cargo from coming into Oakland, displaying the logo, “Zionism isn’t welcome in our town.” 14

Funding

In 2021, Jewish Voice for Peace received nearly $3.9 million in contributions and grants. That year, the organization’s expenses were just over $2.6 million, and its net assets totaled just under $3.2 million. 15 The organization’s 501(c)(4) political action arm received more than $580,000 worth of contributions in 2021 and held net assets of just under $460,000. 16

The Rockefeller Brothers Fund is most notable identified funder of Jewish Voice for Peace. 17 The Fund provided a two-year, $140,000 grant to Jewish Voice for Peace in 2017, after Fund director Nicholas Burns resigned from Rockefeller in protest of funding BDS-supporting organizations. 18

JVP has also received significant funding from the Open Society Network of billionaire left-wing activist financier George Soros, especially through his leading grantmaking organization, the Open Society Foundations. Since 2016, JVP has received at least $650,000 from philanthropic entities connected to Soros. 19

JVP has also received large grants from the donor-advised fund Schwab Charitable; donor-advised funds allow donors to hide the ultimate destinations of their contributions from public disclosure. 20 Other identified JVP contributors include the Firedoll Foundation, the Tides Foundation, and the Kaphan Foundation. 21

Controversies

Anti-Semitism

Jewish Voice for Peace regularly defends statements by left-wing and anti-Israel public figures that mainstream figures consider anti-Semitic. JVP defended U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) with a social media campaign of #IStandWithIlhan22 amid a fury over a Tweet in which Omar wrote, “Israel has hypnotized the world”23 that culminated in the passage of a resolution denouncing “hate” by the U.S. House of Representatives. 24

Jewish Voice for Peace likewise objected to Britain’s Jewish newspapers that were critical of far-left Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn and defended the national Women’s March organizations after liberal groups began abandoning the March in protest of the controversial leaders of the March having made anti-Semitic comments. 25

JVP hosted a Shabbat with Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) after she refused to travel to Israel. Both Tlaib and the JVP have expressed support for the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions approach to coercing Israel. 26 JVP has praised Tlaib as a “hero for justice.” 27

Alignment with Palestinian Extremism

The group criticizes military action from Israel and does not condemn Palestinian terrorism. JVP Board of Directors member Phyllis Bennis said of Palestinian violence: “The problem is that if you just stop the violence you would not have justice.” 28

Jewish Voice for Peace hosted convicted Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terrorist Rasmea Odeh as a speaker at its 2017 national conference. Odeh, who was convicted for involvement (that she denies) in a 1969 bombing of a Jerusalem supermarket, was stripped of U.S. citizenship after it emerged that she had failed to disclose the Israeli conviction on her citizenship application materials. 29

JVP faced backlash in 2020 for a now-deleted tweet in which the organization celebrated the 33rd anniversary of the first intifada, a Palestinian uprising characterized by widespread protests, civil disobedience, and resistance against Israeli occupation. 30 The tweet included a poster that featured the phrase “where there is oppression, may there thrive resistance,” along with the expression “L’chaim intifada” at the bottom, signifying “long live the intifada.” 31 In March 2022, the organization’s twitter page shared a series of nine posts, expressing criticism towards Israel’s policies concerning Jewish Ukrainian refugees who sought refuge from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, claiming that, “Israel is giving Jewish Ukrainians citizenship not out of kindness and generosity, but rather to cement a Jewish demographic majority in Palestine. 32

In April 2023, JVP became part of a coalition consisting of 104 civil society organizations that called upon the United Nations to condemn antisemitism and implement measures aimed at safeguarding Jewish communities. 33

2023 Israel-Hamas Conflict

Following the attack on Israeli territory by the Palestinian militant group Hamas in early October 2023 which left at least 1,200 dead, Jewish Voice for Peace released a statement framing the response as “a wave of one-sided media coverage without any context.” The organization also claimed that Israel would attempt to “destroy as many lives as possible” in response, and that American support for Israel would enable this. 34

Later that month, JVP organized a campaign of protests against the Israeli military’s air campaign and anticipated ground invasion of the Gaza Strip, calling for a ceasefire and for a political solution favorable to Palestinian interests. Notably, JVP and its allies staged a large sit-in at Grand Central station in New York City, which led to several hundred protesters being arrested. The organizers claimed that the event was “the largest civil disobedience New York City has seen” in at least two decades. May Ye, a member of the JVP rabbinical council, also issued a statement claiming that “genocide is unfolding in our names.” 35 36

In early November, another member of the JVP rabbinical council, a transgender left-wing rabbi who goes by the name Jessica Rosenberg, appeared at a private fundraising event in Minneapolis, Minnesota which featured President Joe Biden. Rosenberg demanded that President Biden push for a ceasefire before being removed from the venue. 37 38

Leadership

Stefanie Fox is the executive director at Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), taking over from Rebecca Vilkomerson in 2020 after the latter departed from the organization in 2019. She has previously worked with JVP starting as an organizer and later progressing to the roles of Co-Director of Organizing, Deputy Director, and Acting Co-Executive Director. 39 Rebecca Vilkomerson is the former JVP executive director, serving with the organization from 2001 through to 2019 when she left the group. She previously lived with her family in Israel from 2006 through 2009. In 2010, Forward named her one of the 50 most influential Jewish American leaders. In 2017, The Jerusalem Post named her one of the 50 most influential Jewish leaders in the world. 40

Grace Lile is the chairwoman of the board of directors at JVP. She previously served as the director of operations at the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), an organization known for its stance against war. 41

Jethro Eisenstein was the previous chairman of the board of directors at JVP. He has claimed that the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement “reflects the essence of Judaism,” citing the 1st-century B.C. Jewish scholar Hillel the Elder and his saying that “what is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor.” 42 He has also described the state of Israel as “a nation that has deprived an indigenous population of the right to vote for the past half-century.” 43

Linda Holtzman is the vice chairwoman. She is rabbi of the Tikkun Olam Chavurah and is on the regular faculty of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. She was previously a rabbi at the Beth Israel in Coatesville, Pa., and was a part-time rabbi at Beth Ahavah, an LGBT-focused congregation in Philadelphia. 44

References

  1. “JVP’s Approach to Zionism.” Jewish Voice for Peace. Accessed July 24, 2019. https://jewishvoiceforpeace.org/zionism/.
  2. “Anti-Israel Activism on U.S. Campuses, 2021-2022.” ADL. October 12, 2023. Accessed November 2, 2023. https://www.adl.org/resources/report/anti-israel-activism-us-campuses-2021-2022
  3. “Jewish Voice for Peace’s Anti-Semitic Leaders and Partners.” ZOA Campus. August 1, 2015. Accessed November 2, 2023. https://campus.zoa.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2015/08/FACT-SHEET-Jewish-Voice-for-Peace—s-Anti-Semitic-Leaders-and-Partners-1.pdf
  4. Santis, Yitzhak. “Driving a Wedge: JVPs Strategy to Weaken U.S. Support for Israel by Dividing the Jewish Community.” NGO Monitor. July 8, 2013. Accessed July 24, 2019. http://www.ngo-monitor.org/reports/driving_a_wedge_jvp_s_strategy_to_weaken_u_s_support_for_israel_by_dividing_the_jewish_community/.
  5. Muravchik, Joshua. “Not So Jewish, No For Peace.” Commentary. March 2, 2019. Accessed July 21, 2019. https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/not-so-jewish-not-for-peace/
  6. “JVP’s Approach to Zionism.” Jewish Voice for Peace. Accessed July 24, 2019. https://jewishvoiceforpeace.org/zionism/.
  7. Mission. Jewish Voice for Peace. Accessed July 21, 2019. https://jewishvoiceforpeace.org/mission/
  8. Muravchik, Joshua. “Not So Jewish, No For Peace.” Commentary. March 2, 2019. Accessed July 21, 2019. https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/not-so-jewish-not-for-peace/
  9. Muravchik, Joshua. “Not So Jewish, No For Peace.” Commentary. March 2, 2019. Accessed July 21, 2019. https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/not-so-jewish-not-for-peace/
  10. Annual Report. Jewish Voice for Peace. Accessed July 21, 2019. http://report.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/
  11. Tobin, Jonathan. “Call Out Jewish Voice for Peace for What They Are: Anti-Peace Extremists.” Haaretz. December 12, 2012. Accessed July 21, 2019. https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-call-out-jewish-voice-for-peace-for-what-they-are-anti-peace-extremists-1.5448695
  12. Muravchik, Joshua. “Not So Jewish, No For Peace.” Commentary. March 2, 2019. Accessed July 21, 2019. https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/not-so-jewish-not-for-peace/
  13. Muravchik, Joshua. “Not So Jewish, No For Peace.” Commentary. March 2, 2019. Accessed July 21, 2019. https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/not-so-jewish-not-for-peace/
  14. Muravchik, Joshua. “Not So Jewish, No For Peace.” Commentary. March 2, 2019. Accessed July 21, 2019. https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/not-so-jewish-not-for-peace/
  15. A Jewish Voice For Peace 2021 Internal Revenue Service Form 990. Accessed November 2, 2023. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/900018359/202311359349318401/full
  16. Jewish Voice For Peace Action Incorporated 2021 Internal Revenue Service Form 990. Accessed November 2, 2023. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/841816752/202301359349318205/full
  17. Muravchik, Joshua. “Not So Jewish, No For Peace.” Commentary. March 2, 2019. Accessed July 21, 2019. https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/not-so-jewish-not-for-peace/
  18. Rosen, Armin. “The Rockefeller Brothers Fund Renews Its Commitment to BDS.” Tablet Magazine. August 16, 2017. Accessed July 24, 2019. https://www.tabletmag.com/scroll/243450/the-rockefeller-brothers-fund-renews-its-commitment-to-bds.
  19. “Soros funneled $15m to groups behind pro-Hamas protests.” Jewish News Service. October 30, 2023. Accessed November 2, 2023. https://www.jns.org/soros-funneled-15m-to-groups-behind-pro-hamas-protests/
  20. Aggregated. “Jewish Voices for Peace Anti-Israel Narrative Exposed in Canary Mission Report.” Cleveland Jewish News. November 14, 2018. Accessed July 21, 2019. https://www.clevelandjewishnews.com/jns/jewish-voices-for-peace-anti-israel-narrative-exposed-in-canary/article_95c80209-b6ff-5281-ab87-8a3c297bd40a.html
  21. Data compiled by FoundationSearch.com subscription service, a project of Metasoft Systems, Inc., from forms filed with the IRS. Queries conducted July 24, 2019.
  22. Muravchik, Joshua. “Not So Jewish, No For Peace.” Commentary. March 2, 2019. Accessed July 21, 2019. https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/not-so-jewish-not-for-peace/
  23. Quoted in Cummings, William. “Rep. Omar Starts Furor with Tweets on ‘compromised’ Sen. Graham, Israel ‘evil Doings’.” USA Today. January 18, 2019. Accessed July 24, 2019. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2019/01/17/ilhan-omar-tweet-controversy/2603030002/.
  24. Stolberg, Sheryl Gay. “House Votes to Condemn All Hate as Anti-Semitism Debate Overshadows Congress.” The New York Times. March 07, 2019. Accessed July 24, 2019. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/07/us/politics/ilhan-omar-anti-semitism-vote.html.
  25. Muravchik, Joshua. “Not So Jewish, No For Peace.” Commentary. March 2, 2019. Accessed July 21, 2019. https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/not-so-jewish-not-for-peace/
  26. TOI Staff. “Tlaib Attends Shabbat Event with pro-BDS Group after Rejecting West Bank Visit.” timesofisrael.com. timesofisrael.com, August 17, 2019. https://www.timesofisrael.com/tlaib-attends-shabbat-event-with-pro-bds-group-after-rejecting-west-bank-visit/.
  27. Peace, Jewish Voice for. “We Are so Honored to Support This Hero for Justice. ⁦@RashidaTlaib⁩ #DignityFromDetroitToPalestine⁦@JvpAction⁩ Pic.twitter.com/h1fnkz5Usj.” Twitter. Twitter, August 16, 2019. https://twitter.com/jvplive/status/1162491171752439808.
  28. Muravchik, Joshua. “Not So Jewish, No For Peace.” Commentary. March 2, 2019. Accessed July 21, 2019. https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/not-so-jewish-not-for-peace/
  29. Levitt, Aimee. “JVP Plan To Feature Convicted Terrorist As Speaker Upended By Deportation Agreement.” The Forward. March 22, 2017. Accessed July 24, 2019. https://forward.com/news/national/366799/israel-convicted-rasmea-odeh-for-terrorism-in-1970-next-week-shell-address/.
  30. Elder of Ziyon (@elderofziyon). “277 Israelis were murdered during the first intifada. Today, the repulsive “Jewish Voice for Peace” is celebrating every one of those deaths.” Twitter, December 8, 2020. https://twitter.com/elderofziyon/status/1336494929909075969?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1336494929909075969%7Ctwgr%5E7ca4f6f2bf3b486bcc03e154b4f71fca3bd05b30%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fjewishjournal.com%2Fnews%2F325849%2Fjvp-criticized-for-tweeting-lchaim-intifada-poster%2F
  31. Elder of Ziyon (@elderofziyon). “277 Israelis were murdered during the first intifada. Today, the repulsive “Jewish Voice for Peace” is celebrating every one of those deaths.” Twitter, December 8, 2020. https://twitter.com/elderofziyon/status/1336494929909075969?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1336494929909075969%7Ctwgr%5E7ca4f6f2bf3b486bcc03e154b4f71fca3bd05b30%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fjewishjournal.com%2Fnews%2F325849%2Fjvp-criticized-for-tweeting-lchaim-intifada-poster%2F
  32. Jewish Voice for Peace (@jvplive). “The Israeli govt is settling Jewish Ukrainian refugees on land it illegally occupies and prevents 7 million Palestinian refugees from returning to. Refugees have the right to sanctuary — AND the right to return home. Pitting refugees against each other is not justice. (1/9).” Twitter, March 8, 2022. https://twitter.com/jvplive/status/1501209079863300108?lang=bn%20
  33. “Human Rights and Other Civil Society Groups Urge United Nations to Respect Human Rights in the Fight against Antisemitism.” Human Rights Watch, April 20, 2023. https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/04/04/human-rights-and-other-civil-society-groups-urge-united-nations-respect-human.
  34. “Poking Holes in the Mainstream Media’s March to War.” Jewish Voice for Peace. October 11, 2023. Accessed November 2, 2023. https://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/2023/10/11/jvp-in-the-news-2/
  35. “New York police arrest hundreds at Jewish protest urging Gaza ceasefire.” France 24. October 28, 2023. Accessed November 2, 2023. https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20231028-new-york-police-arrest-hundreds-at-jewish-protest-urging-gaza-ceasefire
  36. “Rabbinical Council.” Jewish Voice for Peace. Accessed November 2, 2023. https://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/rabbinical-council/
  37. Aleks Phillips. “Who Is Jessica Rosenberg? Rabbi Who Heckled Joe Biden.” Newsweek. November 2, 2023. Accessed November 2, 2023. https://www.newsweek.com/who-jessica-rosenberg-rabbi-heckled-joe-biden-gaza-1840183
  38. “Rabbinical Council.” Jewish Voice for Peace. Accessed November 2, 2023. https://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/rabbinical-council/
  39. “ANNOUNCING JVP’S NEXT EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR!” Jewish Voice for Peace, March 6, 2020. https://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/2020/03/new-ed/
  40. People. Jewish Voice for Peace. Accessed July 21, 2019. https://jewishvoiceforpeace.org/people/
  41. “Grace Lile.” LinkedIn, Accessed June 16, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/grace-lile-0473343.
  42. “Appraising the B.D.S. Movement.” The New York Times. August 3, 2019. Accessed November 2, 2023. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/03/opinion/letters/bds-israel-palestinians.html
  43. “Is Israel on ‘a Dangerous Path’ as Netanyahu Takes Power?” The New York Times. December 23, 2022. Accessed November 2, 2023. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/23/opinion/letters/israel-netanyahu.html
  44. People. Jewish Voice for Peace. Accessed July 21, 2019. https://jewishvoiceforpeace.org/people/
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Nonprofit Information

  • Accounting Period: June - May
  • Tax Exemption Received: February 1, 2003

  • Available Filings

    Period Form Type Total revenue Total functional expenses Total assets (EOY) Total liabilities (EOY) Unrelated business income? Total contributions Program service revenue Investment income Comp. of current officers, directors, etc. Form 990
    2021 Jun Form 990 $2,882,791 $2,535,952 $2,837,801 $995,701 N $2,791,662 $0 $2,281 $117,500
    2020 Jun Form 990 $3,332,837 $2,971,953 $2,203,490 $708,229 N $3,214,989 $0 $1,904 $187,093 PDF
    2019 Jun Form 990 $3,400,612 $3,302,559 $1,420,852 $286,475 N $3,176,584 $0 $2,111 $97,780 PDF
    2018 Jun Form 990 $3,701,891 $3,408,915 $1,289,090 $252,766 N $3,557,235 $0 $658 $92,780 PDF
    2017 Jun Form 990 $3,381,642 $3,532,356 $1,008,095 $264,747 N $2,926,316 $242,348 $729 $90,000 PDF
    2016 Jun Form 990 $2,531,296 $2,694,328 $1,159,738 $265,676 N $2,507,450 $4,687 $-15 $90,600 PDF
    2015 Jun Form 990 $2,596,654 $2,144,994 $1,274,685 $113,884 N $2,485,928 $99,201 $578 $84,619 PDF
    2014 Jun Form 990 $1,424,461 $1,144,079 $765,372 $56,231 N $1,407,148 $5,228 $2,186 $68,399 PDF
    2013 Jun Form 990 $1,181,372 $1,031,138 $472,344 $43,585 N $1,147,386 $26,200 $228 $79,613 PDF
    2012 Jun Form 990 $315,909 $411,358 $313,322 $34,797 N $310,583 $3,265 $90 $39,057 PDF
    2011 Dec Form 990 $876,529 $861,754 $393,337 $19,363 N $871,250 $4,807 $472 $74,544 PDF
    2010 Dec Form 990 $708,027 $609,644 $387,967 $28,768 N $705,605 $116 $846 $71,084 PDF

    Additional Filings (PDFs)

    Jewish Voice for Peace

    PO Box 589
    Berkeley, CA