Due to difficulties collecting donations that led to its bankruptcy, The Israel Project (TIP) on Wednesday closed its office in Israel, Haaretz reported yesterday.
The US NGO has faced a severe budget crisis and, according to the Israeli daily, is on its way to being completely shut down.
GOOD RIDDANCE!
The Israel Project is no more …— Rima Najjar (@rima123) August 3, 2019
Haaretz said that the TIP’s office in Israel was cleared and all staff laid off, reiterating that the Jewish organization will vanish very soon.
According to Haaretz, a person who has worked closely with TIP over the years was reported as saying:
“They just have no money left, absolutely nothing.”
#US-based pro-Israel advocacy organization, the Israel Project (TIP), has reportedly been forced to close its #Israel office in anticipation of a complete shutdown due to a sharp decline in support.
According to TIP managers, the group "simply ran out of money”. pic.twitter.com/Rrb7RQijiy
— Voice of Jerusalem (@Voice_Jerusalem) August 3, 2019
This person also stated that work at TIP’s US office “has also come to a halt”, but TIP’s officials are now debating how to end operations.
Speaking to Haaretz, Lior Weintraub, TIP’s vice president and head of its Israel office, said:
“TIP became the first casualty of the polarization in the pro-Israel community in America.”
What the Collapse of This Leading pro-Israel Group Means for the Future of Hasbara in the U.S.
For over a decade, TIP was a prominent pro-Israel advocacy group that drew support from Democrats and Republicans alike. #BDS #ApartheidIsraelhttps://t.co/oJb1jVMg04
— Johann Spischak (@SDGMasterglass) August 2, 2019
After speaking with former employees and staff, Haaretz said that they described how the organization – which for years was considered a leading enterprise in the field of Israel advocacy – went from being “the future of the pro-Israel community” to be on the verge of collapse.
TIP was founded in March 2002, at the height of the Second Intifada, in order to reflect a positive image about Israel regarding its violations against the Palestinians. Its founder was political and media consultant Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, who led TIP for a decade.
(Middle East Monitor, PC, Social Media)
