Concerned by the rise of global anti-Semitism, 2019 Genesis Prize Laureate Robert Kraft asked The Genesis Prize Foundation to use his $1 million award to launch “Speak Out for Israel,” a global campaign to promote a true narrative about Israel and counteract efforts to delegitimize the Jewish State.
The campaign awarded grants to 26 organizations. The “Speak Out for Israel” grant recipients included:
1) Act-IL Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya: During pandemics, like in times of war, anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism does not disappear, but manifests in new ways. The Act-IL app – the first of its kind – connects Israel supporters and activists worldwide to communities and makes creating and distributing online calls to action accessible with an easy, simple, and smart system.
2) ADL Israel: Monitors, responds, and engages in activities to counter anti-Semitism, provides training sessions and webinars.
3) THE AGUDA - The Association for LGBTQI Equality in Israel: “Pride in the Living Room” organizes online meetings in local Jewish communities across the world, introducing LGBTQI issues through sharing personal stories.
4) American Jewish Committee: Brings NATO & EU officials, Muslim leaders, and counter-terrorism experts to Israel, building relationships with those who make policy decisions.
5) B'nai B'rith World Center Jerusalem: Educate international leaders to fight the virulent rise of anti-Israel activities by showcasing Israel as a progressive, innovative, and vibrant country.
6) Creative Community for Peace: Online interviews and panel discussions with top entertainment industry professionals and artists as viral social media content to engage young adults.
7) ELNET Europe-Israel: ELNET’s International Policy Conference (EIPC) is the most important and largest Europe-Israel Policy Summit. Facing the COVID-19 pandemic, virtual EIPC sessions are being conducted on critical issues facing Israel, Europe and the global Jewish community throughout the year, leading towards the 2021 conference in Paris.
8) Heroes for Life: Heroes for Life showcases the beauty of Israel with IDF veteran volunteers traveling to third world countries to aid underprivileged populations by providing education, life skills training, and infrastructure improvements. The grant will allow the organization to expand its operations to more Latin American countries, in light of the many challenges they are facing due to COVID-19.
9) HonestReporting's MediaCentral Project: Media Central works with 650 former and current foreign journalists, reaching combined audiences of tens of millions, to ensure accurate, comprehensive and unbiased coverage about Israel and the region.
10) Innovation: Africa: Help combat the spread of COVID-19 in rural African villages by providing access to clean water through Israeli technology.
11) The Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism: The IMPJ, working with partners in the UK, supports work with marginalized communities in England, tackling anti-Semitism and improving understanding of Zionism.
12) ISRAELis: “Digital Ambassadors” program trains individuals to better articulate Israel’s viewpoint and engage international audiences through the creation of online communities.
13) The Jewish Agency for Israel: Create festive online gatherings in remote communities to provide a positive and inspirational image of Israel.
14) Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs: Produce and disseminate short videos entitled, Three Minutes of Truth: Challenging the Lies about Israel.
15) Maala - Business for Social Responsibility: Strengthen the ties between the Israeli and the global Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) & sustainability communities, through encouraging mutual learning, knowledge-sharing and collaboration to increase businesses' social impact.
16) Jerusalem Press Club: Supports leading foreign journalists stationed in Israel as a trusted source for life in Israel in general and especially during the coronavirus crisis.
17) Music Port: Advocates for Israel and combats racism and anti-Semitism by bringing together music lovers online, regardless of their religion and beliefs.
18) NGO-MONITOR: Calls out anti-Semitic / anti-Zionist activity of NGOs that spread anti-Semitism and demonize Israel under the façade of human rights.
19) ON THE MAP - The New Israeli Film & TV Fund: Collaborate with Academy Award-winning director Dani Mankin and award-winning producer Nancy Spielberg to portray the State of Israel as a democratic, peaceful, and inspiring state by distributing positive stories from Israel, creating exciting events, and collaborating with Israel Prize Winner, Goodwill Ambassador to Israel, Tal Brody.
20) The Peres Center for Peace and Innovation: “Speak Out for Israel” through the lens of the positive global human impact generated from Israeli innovation, and utilize the virtual realm to reach out to world-wide audiences who may otherwise not have the opportunity for meaningful and positive interaction with Israel.
21) The Reut Group: From Vision to Reality: Support the pivoting of pro-Israel organizations around to world in light of new threats and challenges facing the Jewish People as a result of COVID-19.
22) StandWithUs: Empower articulate, diverse young Israeli adults to be the next generation of Israel’s leaders and ambassadors.
23) Start-Up Nation Central: Promote innovative Israeli tech solutions fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, connecting them to governments, companies and global health care organizations. Launched CoronaTech, an innovation information portal featuring hundreds of Israeli companies with technologies to help international entities better cope with COVID-19.
24) Taglit Birthright Israel: Host an online conference featuring the most innovative Israeli solutions to battle COVID-19 in the Center for Israeli Innovation by Taglit.
25) United with Israel: Keeps millions around the world informed about Israel's leadership in the war against Covid-19 and sends daily newsletters to supporters in English, Spanish, French and Portuguese.
26) Vibe Israel: “Unboxing Israel” is a free, online, digital toolbox, giving organizations tools enabling them to tell Israel’s story in an attractive, relevant and authentic way to the next generation around the world.