EXTREMISMWho is Funding U.S. Anti-Israel Groups?

The eruption of mass protests and activities across the U.S. immediately following Hamas’s terror massacre on October 7 has raised important questions about the funding sources of the anti-Zionist and anti-Israel groups behind the unrest. Increasingly since the attack, such activities have escalated to “direct actions” including aggressive and targeted protests, vandalism, property damage and occupation of spaces, especially on university campuses. Some demonstrations have also featured antisemitic messaging and open support for terror organizations.

These protests and activities have often been co-sponsored, organized and/or promoted by the same cadre of organizations including Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), National Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM), Palestine Legal, Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), ANSWER Coalition, American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), Samidoun, Within Our Lifetime (WOL) and others.

The ADL Center on Extremism set out to chart some of these groups’ funding sources to better understand their operations.

Amid allegations of other funding sources — including the possible involvement of foreign actors like Iran, per a July statement by the U.S. Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines – this report will focus on tracking funding mainly from tax records and grant announcements.

We also know that crowdfunding has been a key component of protest and campus organizing, with local groups and individuals raising funds for students and activists through various platforms. This aspect is not covered in this report.

According to COE research and analysis of 990 filings and other publicly available information such as grant announcements and grantee lists, some of the aforementioned groups receive money from the same donors who prioritize anti-Israel projects as well as from progressive and left-of-center institutional funders who view anti-Israel advocacy and education as part of their broader intersectional organizing. A number of them received funding after the October 7 attack.

Frequent donors to these organizations prior to October 7, such as the Sparkplug Foundation, Kiblawi Foundation, Firedoll Foundation, Maximum Difference Foundation, and Tides Foundation are well known in the anti-Israel funding space. Others, such as the North Star Fund, use their money for various anti-Israel projects, but these do not represent the majority of their portfolio.