JNS.org – Donations to the controversial New Israel Fund (NIF), which has been accused of supporting anti-Israel groups, have dropped nearly 20 percent in 2016, according to recent financial statements.

One of the statements reveals that donations to NIF have plummeted $6 million, from $33 million in 2015 to $27 million in 2016, marking a six-year low in incoming philanthropy for the US-based organization.

As a result of this cash flow issue, NIF has cut its overall funding of Israeli groups by about 35 percent in recent years, providing $20 million in 2008 but only $13.5 million in 2016.

NIF, whose stated mission is to advance liberal democracy and fight injustice in Israel, has distributed more than $300 million to 900 organizations since 1979.

Watchdog groups have noted that prominent recipients of NIF funding include Breaking the Silence and B’Tselem, groups that promote international pressure on Israel and have accused the IDF of perpetrating war crimes.

Matan Peleg, CEO of Im Tirtzu, welcomed the drop in donations to NIF.

“The New Israel Fund has lost its legitimacy among the vast majority of Israeli citizens long ago,” said Peleg, “and it is good to see that its US donors are beginning to comprehend that the sole purpose of this organization is to harm the state of Israel and its sovereignty.”

In July, Israel’s Minister of Culture and Sport Miri Regev alleged that NIF has direct connections with Basel Ghattas, a former Arab member of the Knesset who was recently convicted of aiding imprisoned Palestinian terrorists.

“This is not the New Israel Fund — this is a fund that wants a new Israel, an Israel that gives a platform for the support and glorification of terrorists,” Regev said at the time.