Ad calls on Feds to defund Israel critics Media Matters, CAP

JTA

The full page New York Times ad published Thursday by the Emergency Committee for Israel highlights criticism by Jewish groups and opinion shapers of the Center for American Progress think tank and Media Matters, a liberal media watchdog.

CAP has taken steps in recent weeks to address some of the harsh rhetoric voices by some of its staffers — firing one — and two of the three Jewish groups cited in the ad have since praised its efforts, although the ad does not note this.

Media Matters has stood by a staffer who calls right-wing pro-Israel advocates “Israel firsters,” a term that analysts have shown has its origins in anti-Semitic writings.

The ad lists the phone numbers of Jewish foundations and federations that have funneled donor-advised funds to the groups.

The practice among federations and foundations of acceding to donor requests to transfer trust money to a wide variety of groups is commonplace. Jewish foundations general agree to transfers to all but the most extreme groups, and to groups that seek to convert Jews to Christianity.