An organization arranging flights to bring Israelis living abroad home to vote in the upcoming election is facing scrutiny following a Channel 14 report alleging connections between figures involved with the group and an initiative seeking to move traditional voters away from Likud.

AID Coalition organizes flights for Israeli citizens abroad who want to return to Israel to cast ballots. The organization says the effort is strictly nonpartisan and is intended to enable Israelis to exercise their right to vote.

According to Channel 14, however, an Israeli nonprofit called “The Israeli Camp,” which the report says is managed by officials connected to AID Coalition, has supported and raised money for an initiative called “We Are the Judaism of the Declaration of Independence.”

Channel 14 reported that Erez Gavish, a co-founder of that initiative, previously discussed a political strategy aimed at preventing traditional voters who had moved away from Likud from returning to the party.

According to the report, Gavish said that moving Likud voters toward parties led by Naftali Bennett or Avigdor Lieberman would constitute a success.

The report also cited a discussion involving Gavish and members of “Mothers at the Front,” during which participants criticized the influence of Religious Zionism in Israel.

Gavish strongly disputed the characterization of his initiative as partisan.

“The ‘We Are the Judaism of the Declaration of Independence’ initiative is nonpartisan and does not work against Likud or for any party. For three years we’ve worked on the ideological and public level to express the pride of the Jewish people—secular and traditional—in their Judaism,” Gavish said.

He said the statements cited in the report were made approximately a year ago during an ideological discussion concerning what he described as religious extremism, and insisted that the initiative has no involvement in partisan political activity or the election campaign.

AID Coalition also rejected Channel 14’s characterization of the relationship.

The organization said it has supported numerous social initiatives, including programs assisting residents of Sderot and Ofakim, survivors of the Nova massacre and evacuated Israeli communities. It acknowledged previously supporting “We Are the Judaism of the Declaration of Independence,” but said Gavish’s statements represented his personal views and were not made on behalf of AID Coalition.

AID Coalition further said that The Israeli Camp is an independent nonprofit separate from AID Coalition, calling attempts to portray the two organizations as one entity “false and distorted.”

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)