The Kohelet Tentacles: Inside the Web Surrounding the Right-wing Think Tank
Some are funded directly, some of them share staff, some of them collaborate: From settlements to education to immigration, the Kohelet Policy Forum has a diverse range of NGOs under its wing
Credit: Photos: Emil Salman, Liat Mandel, Zeev Galili, Kohelet / Image processing: Shanny Danieli
The Kohelet Policy Forum, a conservative think tank that seeks to “broaden individual liberty and free-market principles in Israel,” generally flew under the radar for the Israeli public. That is, until the unveiling of Justice Minister Yariv Levin’s controversial plan to overhaul the Israeli judicial system, thanks to the forum’s influence over the Israeli right and state institutions.
It now appears that the Kohelet Policy Forum is not working alone in exerting this influence. An investigative report by Shomrim has found that the think tank has taken an entire network of organizations and associations under its wing – and the connections between them are often obscure, downplayed or outright hidden from public scrutiny.
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The Kohelet network can be divided into three categories. The first are organizations or associations, of which there are six, with a direct link to the Kohelet Policy Forum; most of them were established by officials from the forum or received funding from it. The second category is organizations that collaborate with the forum, and the third is organizations that share a managerial committee with them.
Kohelet founder Professor Moshe Koppel.Credit: Olivier Fitoussi
In NGOs and civil society groups, it is a common and accepted practice for one large association to support several satellite groups, either financially or organizationally. This allows the larger groups to decentralize, and let groups with specialized knowledge handle particular issues. It also enables NGOs to maximize their resources – and significantly increase the scope and influence of their activities.
In the past, right-wing Knesset members have been fiercely critical of so-called left-wing organizations which operated in this way. The New Israel Fund frequently draws ire from the Israeli right, which has argued that, due to the extent of the organizations activities – of some of which the public is unaware – the NIF should be reined in.
Kohelet's Executive Director Meir Rubin.Credit: Emil Salman
Now it seems that the conservative, libertarian Kohelet Policy Forum has adopted similar tactics – at least in some cases. In an interview with the Israeli newspaper Makor Rishon in October 2021, Prof. Moshe Koppel, the founder and chairman of the forum, was asked about this very issue but refused to give a clear answer.
Kohelet also has connections to two organizations that deal with education; in both cases, these links are not highlighted.
“The New Israel Fund gets donations and invests them; we are just a research institute,” he said. “Until recently, most of our work was internal, but not every project needs to be like that. If someone is crazy about a certain issue, why shouldn’t they work directly with me? We can help them with whatever they’re lacking.”
When reached for comment, Kohelet said that these organizations are completely independent, and that “the forum is proud to play its part in helping Israeli civil society – of every type – blossom.”
From Pompeo to the teachers’ union
Kohelet shares what may be its clearest link with the Shiloh Policy Forum, the only association that highlights – at least in some of its publications – that it was “founded by the Kohelet Policy Forum.” The organization, whose website says it works “to enrich the knowledge about Jewish settlement in all parts of the land, its challenges, its importance and its moral justification.” It adds that it “supplies the tools and data to strengthen, develop and broaden” Jewish settlement.
Kohelet research fellow Avital Ben-Shelomo is the coalition’s research and policy coordinator. Last month, she was appointed director general of the Education Ministry.
The main body of the Shiloh Policy Forum’s work centers around the Palestinian territories and the settlements there, as well as Palestinian construction in Area C of the West Bank. In the past two years, it has started addressing the Jewish settlement in the Galilee and the Negev, both locales with large Arab populations.
Chairman of Shiloh, Bentzi Liberman, who was a senior researcher at Kohelet.
In some political circles, especially those on the right of the spectrum, Shiloh is held in high esteem. Among its other achievements, it was seen as influencing the 2019 statement by then-U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo recognizing the legality of Israeli settlements.
An examination of the Shiloh Policy Forum’s official documentation highlights just how closely it is linked to the Kohelet Policy Forum and its members. Files from its establishment in 2018 show that all seven of its founders were members of Kohelet, including Kaplan and director Meir Rubin. At the time, the chairman of Shiloh, Bentzi Liberman, was a senior researcher at Kohelet, as was Michael Leiter, who now holds the same position within the Shiloh Forum.
Furthermore, the address listed for Shiloh on its website and Facebook page is the same Jerusalem address used by Kohelet. According to the latest report submitted to the nonprofits registrar, Kohelet also pays the salaries of three officials from Shiloh. According to the same report, however, Shiloh does not have any paid employees, so it is safe to assume that Kohelet pays these salaries directly. None of this prevented Kohelet and Shiloh from claiming, in response to an investigation last month by Shomrim and Haaretz, that Shiloh is an independent entity. The organization refused to respond to inquiries from Haaretz.
The main body of the Shiloh Policy Forum’s work centers around the Palestinian territories and the settlements there, as well as Palestinian construction in Area C of the West Bank.
Kohelet also has connections to two organizations that deal with education; in both cases, these links are not highlighted. The first is Next Generation – Parents for Choice in Education. The organization founded in 2019 by Riki Maman and Avrum Tomer, both of whom are education researchers for Kohelet. The group says that it is working to increase the influence of parents on education through three principles: canceling regional registration for public schools and allowing parents to decide where to send their children; encouraging competition in the education market and “more flexibility in hiring teachers.”
Avrum Tomer, who served on the board of the NGO Tacharut before his time at Kohelet.
When it was established, the address of Next Generation was the same as Kohelet’s. Its management committee also includes Meir Buchnik, who is a senior official at Kohelet, in addition to Maman and Tomer. The Kohelet Policy Forum is mentioned only at the very bottom of the organization’s website, in small text reading, “The site was established by the Kohelet Forum,” as well as on the pages containing biographies of Maman and Tomer.
In response to this report, Tomer said that Next Generation has no finances of its own, and that besides for salon meetings and various publications, has conducted no significant activities. “You could call the Next Generation an offshoot of the Kohelet Forum, but there’s nothing new about that, and who cares anyway?” he said. “Anyone who takes an interest can see that the key people [at Next Generation] are the same key people [that are at Kohelet]. Even a quick Google search shows that there’s a connection. Nobody’s trying to hide anything.”
The other organization focusing on education is the Coalition for Autonomy in Education, which was also established in 2019. The organization is a coalition of a number of groups working in the field, including Next Generation and Tacharut – The Movement for Freedom of Employment, which receives most of its funding from Kohelet. It also counts some organizations associated with the left of the political map. Its stated goal is to “advance administrative, pedagogical, budgetary and professional autonomy in the education system, alongside freedom of choice for parents.”
The new director general of the Education Ministry Avital Ben-Shelomo.
“We did not force Kohelet’s positions on any member of the coalition,” Tomer said. Last summer, when the teachers’ unions threatened a strike that would delay the start of the new school year, the coalition launched a social media campaign against the Israel Teachers Union, using the slogan “Who’s looking out for the students?” Beyond this, the coalition has organized several conferences since it was established, some of which were held in conjunction with the Education Ministry and were attended by politicians from various parties.
From Kohelet to the Education Ministry
Kohelet research fellow Avital Ben-Shelomo is the coalition’s research and policy coordinator. Last month, she was appointed director general of the Education Ministry, where she will be responsible for the ministry’s “administrative autonomy.” Another Kohelet researcher, Dr. Yitzhak Klein, was involved in the establishment of the coalition. The link to the Kohelet Policy Forum is mentioned on the “About” page of the coalition’s website, and in a small font at the foot of its homepage, where Kohelet is credited with building the website.
When asked of the link, Ben-Shelomo said that “The Kohelet Policy Forum initiated the establishment of the coalition. We usually spearhead initiatives, but this is a full partnership.” She added, “it’s true that Kohelet is the main funder of the coalition’s operations, but that’s no secret.”
Riki Maman.Credit: A screenshot from https://www.hadorhaba.org/
That detail may not be a secret, but it is also not mentioned in the coalition’s publications. When this was noted, she responded, “It’s not a detail that interests most people who take an interest in our activities. It’s not that we have anything to hide, but it’s just not so relevant to point out.”
Dr. Hadar Franco, founder of Choosing Education, an NGO that was a founding member of the coalition, said of the connection between the organizations, “I’m not going to lie. We knew that most of the big funding came from the Kohelet Policy Forum.”
She added, “Conferences, a website and videos – they all cost money. At that time, Kohelet wasn’t making headlines, and it was before the understanding that it operates like an octopus’s tentacles. But I don’t regret the cooperation for one minute, because our messages were important. I founded the organization with the understanding that to make things happen, we needed cooperation between organizations with different viewpoints.”
But, she noted, “When things became too political, we took a step back. For example, we didn’t support the campaign against Yaffa Ben-David,” the secretary general of the teachers’ union.
Our Space founder is Uri Akavia.Credit: Kohelet
From union busting to the Istanbul convention
The NGO Tacharut – the Movement for Freedom of Employment, which works against the Histadrut, trade unionization and other efforts to organize workers, was established in 2016 by several young people, including Riki Maman, who had not yet joined Kohelet. Maman remains a member of its administrative board; Avrum Tomer, too, served on its board before his time at Kohelet. Since its founding, Tacharut has received about 1 million shekels ($286,050) – about 80 percent of its donations – from Kohelet. At the same time, it also lends its consulting and research services to Kohelet.
Last year, Kohelet and Tacharut requested to be amicus curiae – supplying the court with its expertise and aid – in proceedings relating to strikes at ports. Joining the two organizations was Our Interes – Your Lobby in the Knesset, an NGO founded in 2019. Maman was also among its founders, as was Idan Eretz, today a journalist for Globes, but then a regulations researcher for Kohelet, for whom he still serves on the board. Our Interes has also worked with the Kohelet Policy Forum to petition the High Court of Justice against government regulations on dairy, a bid that was unsuccessful. Elad Malka, until recently the chairman of Our Interes, denied any connection between the organization and Kohelet, even if they had collaborated in the past.
Next Generation's Meir Buchnik, who is a senior official at Kohelet.
There is also Hamerchav Shelanu, or “Our Space,” another NGO founded by Kohelet. Buchnik and attorney Ran Bar-Yoshafat, Kohelet’s deputy director, are members of its administrative board. Registered as its founder is Uri Akavia, a Kohelet researcher. The organization, which according to its Facebook “works toward cultivating diverse expressions of Jewish identity in the public space in Israel,” and according to the NGO registry, deals with “advancing the Jewish public space,” shares an address with the Kohelet Policy Forum. Despite this, Akavia said that “There is no connection between us [at Hamerchav Shelanu] and Kohelet.”
One organization that works within the Kohelet Policy Forum but maintains its own website – seeming to an outside observer to be an independent entity – is the Civil Society Forum. The NGO trains organizations and parliamentary aides in media and government relations. It was founded in 2017, and about a year later merged with Kohelet. In 2021, Haaretz found that a group of anti-LGBTQ groups, who had united under the name the Forum for Family Values, had undergone the organization’s training program.
Adi Arbel, chairman of the Civil Society Forum, said that “people from every part of the political spectrum receive our training. Our connection with Kohelet is known.”
Kohelet also works with NGOs that it was not involved in establishing and in which none of its staff hold positions. One example is the Israeli Immigration Policy Center, which worked alongside Kohelet to formulate some of the ideas currently at the core of Yariv Levin’s proposed overhaul of the judicial system.
The two groups also collaborated on the campaign against Israel signing the Istanbul Convention, which, among other things, would have meant that female victims of violence would be afforded refugee status in Israel. Opposition to Israel’s proposed joining of the Istanbul Convention stemmed from Kohelet’s concern that doing so would alter Israel’s immigration policy.
Kohelet also cooperated with My Israel on a campaign called “Bringing them to Justice,” which sought to help law enforcement track down people who attacked Jews during the 2021 escalation in the Gaza Strip, which saw riots in mixed Jewish-Arab cities.
The Kohelet Policy Forum submitted the following response: “Some of the organizations mentioned were established by the Kohelet Policy Forum, others were given different types of support; the remainder have no connection to Kohelet, apart from the fact that some members of the Kohelet Forum may volunteer in their free time for these organizations. What they all have in common is that they are all currently completely independent. Apart, that is, from the Civil Society Forum, which, when it was established, was an independent organization and on whose website it clearly states that it merged into the Kohelet Forum; and the Coalition for Autonomy in Education, which itself is a loose affiliation of organizations. The Kohelet Policy Forum is proud to play its part in helping Israeli civil society – of every type – blossom.”
Adi Arbel, executive director of the Civil Society Forum: “People from all ends of the political spectrum undergo training sessions with us. The connection with Kohelet is known.”
Alon Tuval, executive director of Tacharut – Movement for Freedom of Employment: “We’re happy to work with any organization that identifies with our opinions.”
Uri Akavia, executive director of “Our Space: “We have no connection with Kohelet.”
Dorit Hizi, executive director of The Public Knowledge Workshop (Hasadna): “Rubin was chosen by a majority of members of the assembly. We cooperate with people from all the ends of the political spectrum."
The Shiloh Policy Forum refused to respond.