Jennifer Gorovitz, vice president of the New Israel Fund. Image by jewish community federation

By Naomi Zeveloff February 9, 2017

A senior official at the New Israel Fund was detained at Israel’s airport on Wednesday, in an incident that an Israeli opposition lawmaker slammed as “political persecution.”

Jennifer Gorovitz, the vice president of the New Israel Fund, a U.S.-based not-for-profit that supports Jewish and Arab civil society groups in Israel, traveled to Israel via Ben Gurion airport in order to participate in the organization’s board meeting.

According to a report in Haaretz, Gorovitz was detained for about 90 minutes, during which she was questioned three different times about the New Israel Fund’s activities.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

Gorovitz said that one of the people questioning her was holding a large document about her, which included the word “BDS,” shorthand for the movement to boycott, divest from and sanction Israel for its treatment of Palestinians. Gorovitz told the questioner that NIF opposes BDS.

Israeli parliament member Tamar Zandberg, of the left wing Meretz party, asked Interior Minister Aryeh Dery to look into the legality of the incident.

“This is political persecution, harassment and an attempt to silence those who fight for Israeli society,” she wrote in a letter to Dery. She called what happened to Gorovitz “harassment and political labeling.”

Contact Naomi Zeveloff at [email protected]

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount