Strategic Affairs Ministry announces aid for pro-Israel groups as funding dives

JTA — Israel’s government is planning to find funding for pro-Israel groups hit worldwide by a funding crisis triggered by the coronavirus pandemic.

The survey released Thursday by the Ministry for Strategic Affairs says over 80 percent of major pro-Israel groups anticipate significant cuts in funding from donors and a 49 percent cut in grants.

Two-thirds have cut budgets for 2020 and 63 percent report halving their activities.

“The Ministry of Strategic Affairs has been working in recent months on a financial aid program that will provide an economic lifeline to the pro-Israel network, to ensure the change and streamlining of their activities so they continue to remain an influential and relevant source into the future,” Orit Farkash-Hacohen, the minister, said in a statement.

The statement did not elaborate on where the funding would come from, or how it would overcome restrictions in some countries — including the United States — on money from foreign governments.