March 25, 2016 | Read Time: 3 minutes
One way to counter a candidate you don’t agree with is by giving to his or her challengers.
But several small donors decided earlier this week to undermine Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump by giving to nonprofits that oppose his views — and their actions appear to have led to thousands of additional dollars for one group.
During Mr. Trump’s speech Monday at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference, a few small donors, using the hashtag #DollarsTrumpHate on Twitter, said they would give $1 to human-rights and other nonprofits, including left-leaning ones like the New Israel Fund and T’ruah, for every minute that Mr. Trump spoke at the conference. They prompted others to give, too.
Both the New Israel Fund and T’ruah advocate for human rights and equality in Israel and oppose the Jewish state’s occupation and settlement-building in areas Palestinians consider their homeland.
An email sent Tuesday to the New Israel Fund’s email subscribers by Daniel Sokatch, chief executive of the group, excoriated the committee, commonly known as AIPAC, as well as Mr. Trump and mentioned the donations that were raised by the spontaneous Twitter drive. Mr. Sokatch’s message also prompted people to give: A “donate” button appears at the bottom of the email. The text of the email was also posted on Facebook.
$10,000 Raised
Since Monday night, the nonprofit has received roughly $10,000 in gifts from about 100 donors, said Naomi Paiss, vice president for public affairs for the New Israel Fund. That amount is “good but not extraordinary” for the group, she said in an email to The Chronicle.
Still, Ms. Paiss found it remarkable that Mr. Trump would be a catalyst for giving to the nonprofit at all, as the New Israel Fund almost never comments on American politics. The organization, with headquarters in New York, mostly advocates for issues within Israel, where about three-quarters of its workers are based, she said.
Rabbi Jill Jacobs, executive director of T’ruah, said her organization saw some small donations come in following the Twitter drive but was unsure how much.
T’ruah, a group made up of rabbis that advocate for human rights in North America, Israel, and the occupied territories, issued a statement before and after Mr. Trump’s speech denouncing the candidate. The group allowed supporters to sign the statement, which did not name Mr. Trump directly but asked people to oppose a “presidential candidate who has built his campaign on fear-mongering about minorities.”
The New Israel Fund has seen dozens of emails come to the organization — and to Mr. Sokatch and other staff members — referring to the message sent Tuesday about Mr. Trump. Some praised the organization, while others were not as happy about its actions, Ms. Paiss said.
“It think it speaks to the incredibly polarizing nature of what Mr. Trump is, what he had to say at AIPAC,” she said, adding that many of the group’s supporters were upset about the standing ovation Mr. Trump received at the conference.
On the stump, the candidate has called for Muslims to be temporarily banned from entering the United States and has drawn criticism for derogatory comments about blacks, Latinos, and women.
Lillian Pinkus, president of AIPAC, gave an emotional apology for the speech Tuesday, in which Mr. Trump attacked President Obama for his nuclear deal with Iran and made other disparaging remarks about the president. Some noted that Mr. Trump’s AIPAC speech was toned down compared to others he’s made.
Due to Mr. Trump’s rhetoric, another prominent Jewish group, the Anti-Defamation League, said hours before Mr. Trump spoke at AIPAC that it would redirect about $56,000 it had received from Mr. Trump during the past decade to education campaigns aimed at fighting prejudice.
