Project Rozana is an international advocacy organization that promotes peace between Israel and the Palestinians through increasing access to health care, particularly through nurse training programs and cross-border medical initiatives. ¹ It calls its method of operation “health diplomacy.” ² The project has several chapters throughout the world, including in Australia, Canada, the European Union, Israel, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Germany, and the United States. ^{3 4} Project Rozana USA is based in New York. ⁴

In fiscal year 2023, Project Rozana USA received the majority of its funds from government grants, and the international Project Rozana received a $2,350,000 grant from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). ^{5 6}

Initiatives

Project Rozana’s central initiative is to conduct and disseminate medical research throughout Israel and the disputed Palestinian territories to promote peace through health care. Project Rozana has field offices in Jerusalem to help build health care infrastructure that unites Israelis and Palestinians. The project claims to be a nonpartisan entity that advocates for both Israel and Palestinians in advancing medical care opportunities for both sides of the conflict. ^{7 8}

Within this objective, Project Rozana has two main campaigns: the Gaza Mobile Tent Healthcare Initiative and the Protects the Progress Campaign. Project Rozana’s Gaza campaign seeks to provide temporary, tent-based healthcare for the people of Gaza by coordinating with Gaza-based healthcare organizations. The project claims that on October 7, 2023, Hamas launched a “brutal attack” against Israelis. In response to the ensuing conflict between Israel and Hamas, Project Rozana’s Gaza campaign seeks to provide medical treatment to injured and displaced Palestinian civilians in Gaza. ^{9 10}

Project Rozana’s Protect the Progress campaign is in direct response to the second Trump administration’s freezing of all U.S. Agency for International Development funds in 2025. The campaign seeks to raise funds in place of the USAID funding to maintain several of its healthcare initiatives, including its Nursing Hub program and cross-border initiatives which seek to provide healthcare treatment to Israelis and Palestinians. The project claims that it must raise $300,000 during Spring 2025 to maintain its operations in Israel and the disputed Palestinian territories. ¹¹

Controversies

In 2021, Jamal Rifi, former deputy chair of Project Rozana, was sentenced to 10 years in prison in absentia by a military tribunal in Lebanon because of his work with Project Rozana. Rifi said the sentence was a result of Lebanon’s corrupt political system and the Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist group’s influence. Rifi has also visited Israel, which is forbidden under Lebanese law for its citizens. ^{12 13}

Leadership

Ron Finkel is the founder and chairman of the international board of directors for Project Rozana. He is also a member of the board of directors for Project Rozana Australia. Finkel is the managing director of Momentum Ventures, a venture capital firm in Australia. He has also been president of Hadassah Australia, a Jewish community organization, since 2003. He is a graduate of law and commerce from Melbourne University and has been an activist in Jewish political affairs, spending time in London as President of the World Union of Jewish Students and then several years living and working in Jerusalem before returning to Australia in 1985. In 2013, Finkel founded AUSiMED, a health promotion charity to advance medical research collaborations between Israel and Australia. In 2018, he was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM). ³

Kenneth Bob is the chairman of the board of Project Rozana USA. He previously led a variety of software companies. Bob has also served as a member of the executive of the Jewish Agency for Israel’s International Board of Governors. He is also president of Ameinu, the American liberal Zionist organization; is treasurer of the J Street board of directors; and is a member of the Forward Association board of directors. ¹⁴

Ronit Zimmer is CEO of Project Rozana and the executive director of Project Rozana Israel. Previously, Zimmer worked in several capacities for left-of-center NGOs. She is the founder of Beyond Israel, an international communications office that collaborates with nonprofit organizations dedicated to left-of-center advocacy in the Middle East. Zimmer has worked as a department director at the Peres Center for Peace for five years. ¹⁵

Financials

Although Project Rozana is an international nonprofit network, its United States chapter reports its financial information on the U.S. nonprofit tax return. In 2023, Project Rozana USA reported $768,112 in revenue, $903,244 in expenses, and $87,354 in total assets. In 2023, 62 percent ($476,654) of Project Rozana USA’s funding came from government grants. ⁵

In 2022, Project Rozana received a $2,350,000 grant from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The grant was intended to be used over three years to establish a Palestinian-Israeli Specialist Nursing Hub comprising four Palestinian and four Israeli hospitals and to provide clinical training and professional development to 480 Palestinian and Israeli nurses. ⁶

1. Rajvanshi, Astha. “How Israeli and Palestinian Medical Volunteers Work Across Borders to Save Lives.” Time. March 8, 2024. Accessed February 23, 2025.  https://time.com/6899026/israel-palestine-medical-volunteers/
2. “Who We Are.” Rozana. Accessed February 23, 2025. https://www.rozana.org/who-we-are
3. “Ron Finkel AM.” Rozana. Accessed February 23, 2025. https://www.rozana.org/board-of-directors/ron-finkel-am
4. “News.” Project Rozana USA. Accessed February 23, 2025. https://www.projectrozanausa.org/news
5. “Project Rozana Usa Inc – 2023 Federal Form 990.” ProPublica. Accessed February 23, 2025. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/823111349/202432689349300308/full
6. “Major US funding boost for cross-border nursing program in the Middle East.” Rozana. September 30, 2022. Accessed February 23, 2025. https://www.rozana.org/news/27/major-us-funding-boost-for-cross-border-nursing-program-in-the-middle-east
7. “Peacebuilding Strategy.” Rozana. Accessed February 23, 2025. https://www.rozana.org/peacebuilding-strategy
8. Stone, Deborah. “Peacebuilding: ‘This experience has changed me profoundly.’” The Jewish Independent. January 21, 2025. Accessed February 23, 2025. https://thejewishindependent.com.au/close-encounters-palestinian-and-israeli-nurses-meet-as-health-diplomats
9. “Gaza mobile tent healthcare initiative.” Rozana. Accessed February 23, 2025. https://www.rozana.org/gaza-mobile-tent-healthcare-initiative
10. Stone, Deborah. “Peacebuilders bring tent clinic to Gaza.” The Jewish Independent. November 8, 2024. Accessed February 23, 2025. https://thejewishindependent.com.au/peacebuilders-bring-tent-clinic-to-gaza
11. “Protect the Progress: The Rozana Emergency Funding Appeal.” Rozana. 2025. Accessed February 23, 2025. https://au.rozana.org/protect-the-progress
12. “Lebanon gives doctor 10 years in absentia for working with Israel on medical aid.” Times of Israel. August 26, 2021. Accessed February 23, 2025. https://www.timesofisrael.com/lebanon-gives-doctor-10-years-in-absentia-for-working-with-israel-on-medical-aid/
13. Finel, Ron and Rifi, Jamal. “We build bridges between Israelis and Palestinians by focusing on our shared humanity rather than our differences.” The Guardian. October 20, 2023. Accessed February 23, 2025. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/oct/21/we-build-bridges-between-israelis-and-palestinians-by-focusing-on-our-shared-humanity-rather-than-our-differences
14. “Kenneth Bob.” Rozana. Accessed February 23, 2025. https://www.rozana.org/board-of-directors/kenneth-bob
15. “Ronit Zimmer.” Rozana. Accessed February 23, 2025. https://www.rozana.org/our-team/ronit-zimmer