Addressing the Evolving Policy Landscape in Israel: Fund for Women and Girls Grant Announcement

The Jewish Community Foundation of The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington’s Fund for Women and Girls is announcing its first multi-year grants to three Israeli organizations working at the intersection of policy, law, and women’s rights—each positioned to meet the moment:

• Israel Women’s Network (IWN): Israel’s largest advocacy organization for women’s rights and gender equality, fighting for 40 years to eradicate women’s exclusion from the public sphere.
• Itach Ma’aki (Women Lawyers for Social Justice): the leading legal aid organization for vulnerable women in Israel, providing free legal aid since 2001, representing them in labor disputes, family law, housing, and violence claims, and advocating for the structural changes that protect women’s rights beyond the individual case.
• Bonot Alternativa: a non-partisan women’s movement and the largest grassroots organization defending women’s rights and promoting democracy in Israel, with more than 100,000 activists across 80 locations.

Since the 1980s, Israel Women’s Network (IWN) has created an institutional framework through which Israeli women can challenge legislation, contest legal opinions and increase the rights and protection for women and girls across Israel. In 2025 IWN secured a landmark ruling in the High Court of Justice to hold the government legally accountable for enforcing equal representation of women in parliamentary and civil service leadership roles. With the upcoming election, they are launching a nonpartisan election guide so that voters can determine how candidates from any party answer questions about the further advancement of women’s rights.

Itach Ma’aki is the only women’s organization active in the Council for Unrecognized Bedouin Villages, bringing a gender lens to lobbying for shelters and protection and providing direct assistance to a network of hundreds of Bedouin women. They have worked in coalition with Israel Women’s Network to block a budget proposal that would have stripped billions of shekels from civil services and co-led high profile lawsuits including challenging the barring of ultra-orthodox women from running for office, and appealing the Labor Court to protect the rights of Bedouin women. They are currently focused on a joint Israeli/Palestinian committee that launched the Center for Women, Peace and Security to bolster the enforcement of UN Resolution 1325 and ensure women have a seat at the table in peace negotiations.

Bonot Alternativa has turned its considerable organizing capacity toward supporting women looking to influence change at the municipal level. One of their greatest recent successes has been in creating small communities of women who work as a group on municipal engagement strategies to hold city councils accountable for governing with integrity and not losing sight of the policies and decisions that impact women and girls. “We call it the Erin Brockovich program,” said Liad Suez-Karni, chair of Bonot’s board. “It’s less intimidating to work in a group. Our value add is for women who want to engage, but don’t want to be in office.”

“The women leading these organizations are not waiting for the political climate to shift before they act,” said Jannah Yutkovitz, who oversees the Fund for Women and Girls. “They are taking risks to build the infrastructure that will shape what Israeli democracy looks like for the next generation of women and girls, and they need funders who understand that this work unfolds over years, not short grant cycles. That is exactly the type of challenge that the Fund for Women and Girls was designed to address. We are deeply grateful to our donors who have made this type of transformational funding a possibility.”

If the moment in Israel is on your mind and you are looking for a high-leverage place to direct your giving, let’s talk.

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