Learn about the top American philanthropy funding an Israeli-designated terrorist group

The Rockefeller Brothers Fund has given more than $3.4 million to pro-Hamas groups since 2018

The Rockefeller Brothers Fund touts its commitment to advancing “social change that contributes to a more just, sustainable and peaceful world.” It also funds an Israeli-designated Palestinian terrorist group and has given millions more to groups that fund Hamas or that have justified the terrorist group’s attacks on Israel.

Established by the heirs of John D. Rockefeller Jr., the Rockefeller Brothers Fund has since 2018 funneled more than $3.4 million to pro-Hamas groups, including Defense for Children International-Palestine, which serves as a critical cog in the propaganda machinery of the terrorist group.

In fact, the Israeli government declared Defense for Children International-Palestine was listed as a terrorist organization in October 2021, arguing that it effectively functions as an extension of the terrorist group Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and that it employs senior members of the PFLP.

Defense for Children International-Palestine has received $165,000 from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund since 2018 and spreads shoddy research that Israel’s detractors use as a weapon to delegitimize the Jewish state. Since Israel began retaliatory strikes against Hamas, it has amplified the false claim that an Israeli airstrike killed 500 Palestinians at Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza on Tuesday. Democratic lawmakers have relied on the group’s flawed statistics to push anti-Israel legislation through the House. In May, nearly 30 Democrats led by Rep. Betty McCollum (Minn.) introduced a bill accusing Israel of wrongfully detaining Palestinian children, the Washington FKing Beacon reported.

Defense for Children International-Palestine’s ties to terror were public knowledge long before Israel designated the group as a terrorist organization in 2021. Jerusalem Post reported in 2018 that many of the group’s top officials and board members were linked to the PFLP, a US-designated body. terrorist group. Then Stephen Heintz, president of the fund, defended the group’s support for Defense of Children International-Palestine, telling the Jerusalem Post in a letter to the editor that he was “convinced” that none of the group’s resources financed terrorist activity.

The fund, which former Vice President Nelson Rockefeller and his four brothers launched in 1940, has been sensitive to pressure from left-wing groups to alter its portfolio. The group pledged in 2014 to divest from fossil fuels, a move that Vice Chair Valerie Rockefeller Wayne described as a “moral obligation”. Heintz agreed, saying it “seemed like we were compromising ourselves” by holding stakes in oil companies.

Heintz has not made this argument when it comes to Palestinian terrorism, as his fund is committed to working for a “peaceful world.”

The Rockefeller Brothers Fund has it too distributed $580,000 to Education for Just Peace in the Middle East, a group that has been accused of abusing his charitable status funding Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist groups. Other recipients of the fund’s generosity include Jewish Voice for Peace, which staged a raid on a congressional office building on Wednesday, leading to the arrests of more than 300 pro-Palestinian demonstrators.

Jewish voice for peace, which it has received $490,000 from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund since 2019, argued in the hours after Hamas launched its attacks that “Israeli apartheid and occupation” was the sole source of the violence. “Inevitably, oppressed people everywhere will seek — and win — their freedom. We all deserve liberation, safety and equality,” the group. said in a statement.

The Rockefeller Brothers Fund has given an additional $2.2 million since 2018 to other groups that have issued statements justifying Hamas or blaming Israel for terrorist attacks.

Rockefeller Brothers Fund trustee Peter Beinart gave his full support to Jewish Voice for Peace’s decision to storm the Congressional office building. In a series of tweets, he praised the courage of the protesters and stated that they care deeply for the 1,400 Israelis killed by Hamas.

I know some Jews – maybe many – will look at these people + think that they don’t care about the Israelis who were killed + captured, that they are indifferent to Jewish security. It’s not true. They care deeply. They just believe that Jewish safety depends on the Palestinians being safe as well https://t.co/0YoMk4SVoX

— Peter Beinart (@PeterBeinart) October 19, 2023

Beinart is not the only trustee of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund with anti-Israel leanings. Three other fund managers:David Rockefeller Jr., Miranda Kaiseri Marnie Pillsbury-are members of the Council on Foreign Relations, an influential Washington DC think tank that was criticized in September by hosting a private, invitation-only event with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who has threatened to destroy Israel and praised Hamas terror attacks as a “glorious operation”.

The Rockefeller Brothers Fund did not return a request for comment.