About Robin Hood Israel Foundation
Israel is an inscrutable miracle at the forefront of consciousness for Jews and non-Jews alike. Nonetheless, Israel faces many challenges, both external and those of its own making- including a myriad of socio-economic and religious complexities, an ongoing and difficult transition from socialism to capitalism, and chronic dependence on American Aid and Diaspora charitable donations to name a few.
As a result of this, Israel struggles to weed out corruption and abuse of power, and continually falls short in providing basic rights to some of its weakest citizens. Additionally, a shocking number of Israelis live in poverty, with approximately 21 percent of Israelis tragically living under the poverty line (OECD 2016).
These are the challenges that RHIF takes on.
Our Story
RHIF was founded in 2003 to fight the taxation of Anglo American charitable donations to Israel: a modern day 'Robin Hood'. Soon after RHIF’s establishment it became painfully obvious that the taxation of charity was not the only internal socio-economic mishap in Israel. Sixteen years later, RHIF is leading some of the most important social welfare, democracy and citizen rights initiatives in Israel.
RHIF's modus operandi is based on Harvard and Columbia Universities’ cutting edge social enterprise theory. It is part of a new generation of NGOs, charities, and philanthropies designed to fill the gaps caused by public sector retreat from socio-economic safety nets in certain emerging nations (see in particular Ambassador Joan Spero work on this matter, Charity and Philanthropy in BRIC Countries, Foundation Centre, 2014).
Israel has the right conditions for the growth of philanthropy; “rapid economic development and wealth accumulation along with political and social change,”[1] but lacks effective roadmaps to secure the transition. Hence, much of our work involves lobbying politicians and lawmakers to ensure that the needs of our causes are tended to. The Knesset awarded RHIF full accreditation as an NGO lobby organization in June 2014, both for its own programs, as well of those under the RHIF umbrella.
[1] Joan Spero in https://www.alliancemagazine.org/blog/5-questions-for-joan-spero-author-philanthropy-in-bric-countries/
Our Mission
Robin Hood Israel Foundation’s (RHIF) mission is to improve the welfare of Israeli citizens and strengthen Israeli society as a whole by advancing Western democratic values and providing philanthropic solutions that close the gaps in the country's socio-economic safety nets. RHIF acts as an umbrella organization for other NGOs, charities, and social welfare organizations that - despite the validity of their respective causes - struggle to be heard. RHIF's projects range from providing scholarships for Israeli students to fighting taxation on charitable donations. Alongside RHIF's own philanthropic goals, it is also incubating/accelerating a number of Israel's small but impactful NGOs and nonprofits.
To learn more about our different projects please visit our projects page.
Our Partnerships
Robin Hood Israel Foundation is dedicated to the people in Israel and in keeping with our goals we have forged connections across the world with businesses and organizations. If you want to help us build a thriving State of Israel through pro bono work or in any other way, please contact us.
