OneVoice International

Profile

Country/TerritoryUnited States
Websitehttp://onevoicemovement.org/programs/onevoice-international.php
Founded2002 by Daniel Lubetzky, who is also reportedly behind the V15 campaign (see below).
In their own words“an international grassroots movement that amplifies the voice of mainstream Israelis and Palestinians, empowering them to propel their elected representatives toward the two-state solution.”

Funding

  • In 2016, total income was $4.9 million; total expenses were $3.8 million.
  • According to its website, “The Movement is supported by PeaceWorks Foundation, a Section 501(c)(3) charitable organization, PeaceWorks Action, Inc., a Section 501(c)(4) social welfare organization, and other individuals, charitable institutions, and advocacy organizations across the globe.”
  • In 2014, PeaceWorks was granted $80,000 from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund for “its OneVoice Movement Project.”
  • In 2013 the U.S. State Department provided One Voice Israel with a grant of $233,500 (for a project to “Defray Costs for Program ‘Campaign to Support the Negotiations’ Between the Israel Government & Palestinian Authority- Building Up Public SUPPORT”) and One Voice Palestine with a grant of $115,776 (for a project to “Work to Inspire Civic Participation Through Grassroots ACTIVISM”). (Read more about these grants below.)
  • OneVoice was listed as a 2014-2015 donor for Women Wage Peace.

Activities

  • Operates branches in Tel Aviv, Ramallah, London, and New York.
  • Claims to “work[]to forge consensus for conflict resolution and build a human infrastructure capable of mobilizing the people toward a negotiated, comprehensive, and permanent agreement between Israel and Palestine that ends the occupation, ensures security and peace for both sides, and solves all final-status issues in accordance with international law and previous bilateral agreements.”
  • OneVoice’s “flagship educational and advocacy program,” OneVoice on Campus, was created to “cultivate and train a team of engaged students throughout the country capable of harnessing the energy on campus to advocate for an end to the Israeli occupation and a peaceful resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the form of a two-state solution.”
  • Organized “Peace Pays off at the Bar” events, at which speaker Gershon Baskin blamed the Israeli government for failing to reach a peace agreement with the Palestinians. At one event in January 2015, Baskin said: “I believe there is a chance that the next government will be headed by Isaac Herzog and if we want to have a center-left government, we need to convince people that there is hope. When people don’t have hope, they vote for people like Netanyahu.”
  • Organizes campaigns in which OneVoice activists “fought against the confiscation of land for settler expansion” through tree planting.
  • In September 2014, One Voice Palestine launched “The Land is Ours” campaign “to encourage young Palestinians to participate in non-violent resistance to end the occupation, realize the two-state solution, and establish an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 lines with East Jerusalem as its capital.”
  • In December 2014, led a Christmas event in Bethlehem at which all youth leaders “donned a specifically designed sweatshirt that encouraged tourists to speak to their communities about Palestine through acknowledging Palestinian rights of freedom and self-determination” and “keffiyehs, checkered black and white scarves that are a symbol of Palestinian nationalism and an icon of Palestinian solidarity.”

Involvement in Israeli Elections

  • In 2013, the U.S. State Department provided OneVoice Israel and OneVoice Palestine with two grants equaling $349,276 (see above). Soon after the end of the grant period, OneVoice embarked on a political campaign titled “Victory 2015 (V15),” a campaign seeking to defeat Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the 2015 March elections. OneVoice Israel’s Executive Director Polly Bronstein said: “We believe that it’s critical that the majority of Israelis who are concerned about the numerous security and socio-economic challenges we face have their voices heard in the next election. We need a prime minister and a government who will be responsive to the people.”
  • V15 posted a statement on its website saying: “Among those that donated are Daniel Lubetzky, Alon Kastiel, Uri Weiss and S. Daniel Abraham. Some organizations also donated, among them OneVoice.”
  • On July 12, 2016, the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, chaired by Senator Rob Portman (R-OH), released a report detailing the use of resources developed with State Department funding to advance the “V-15” political campaign during the last election cycle in Israel.
  • The subcommittee concluded that One Voice did not directly use U.S. funds for its election campaign or violate its agreement with the U.S. government. However, it sharply criticized the State Department for not properly evaluating One Voice before grant approval and monitoring the organization during the course of the project. The State Department “failed to adequately guard against the risk of OneVoice using government-funded resources for political purposes… [d]espite OneVoice’s previous political activity in the 2013 Israeli election.”
  • In January 2014, OneVoice targeted then Israeli Finance Minister Yair Lapid with a public campaign, calling on him to end “financial transfers to the settlements and sending the money instead to deprived communities inside Israel.” The political activity included “grassroots outreach [] paired with an aggressive social media campaign,” as well as demonstrations along roadways and in front of Minister Lapid’s residence.

Partners

All Articles about OneVoice International

Further Reading