Jeremy Ben-Ami, the president of J Street, has been elected as a new trustee of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, a leading philanthropic backer of anti-Israel causes, the foundation announced this week.

In joining the board, Ben-Ami is drawing closer to a foundation that has long been a top contributor to J Street, a progressive Israel advocacy group that has recently sought to capitalize on growing Democratic frustration with the war in Gaza.

But the foundation’s approach to philanthropy has not always been comfortably aligned with J Street’s mission, which is officially opposed to the Boycott, Sanctions and Divestment movement seeking to isolate Israel. For its part, RBF has provided funding to a range of pro-BDS groups such as Jewish Voice for Peace, the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights and Palestine Legal.

Such giving came under scrutiny amid a surge of anti-Israel protests that arose in the aftermath of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks — particularly as JVP emerged as a leading organizer of some demonstrations. “Several of our partners take policy positions that are critical of the government of Israel,” the foundation said in a December 2023 statement defending its grantees, “but each shares our conviction that all human life is precious and valued.”

In a follow-up statement in May 2024, the foundation clarified that it “has had no direct involvement in the campus protests nor have we earmarked funds for them,” while acknowledging some grantees “have provided training, messaging, and/or legal support to student protest leaders.”

Ben-Ami, in a LinkedIn post, said that he was “enormously honored to be joining the board of a strategic and thoughtful leader in the philanthropic world” and was “looking forward to getting started.”

As a trustee, he will provide “fiduciary oversight of the Fund’s vision, mission, and activities,” RBF said in its brief announcement on Monday.

In an email to Jewish Insider, Ben-Ami said he was “deeply aligned with the Foundation’s focus on strengthening democracy, peacebuilding and promoting sustainable development,” praising the foundation’s approach as “particularly thoughtful and strategic.”

“I’ve appreciated RBF’s approach to funding in the Israel-Palestine area and specifically that they continue to engage on these issues when many others find the topic too politically contentious. It’s precisely their willingness to engage – and lead – on issues that others shy from that attracts me to them” Ben-Ami continued. “I might not agree with the exact tactics and prescription of each RBF grantee in this area, but I do know that the program is driven by a shared desire to achieve a just and durable peace and to challenge conventional wisdom in ways that I hope bring innovative solutions to light.”

“The beauty of the philanthropic world is that it allows dialogue to be opened and strategies to be tried that may not be possible in the more highly charged political arena where I have spent the bulk of my career,” Ben-Ami added.

The foundation’s “Peacebuilding” program, which focuses on the Middle East, “pursues interrelated strategies to advance conflict transformation of specific conflicts — Afghanistan and Israel-Palestine — as well as conflict prevention efforts elsewhere to de-escalate tensions and develop policy frameworks that advance peace,” according to its website. “The Fund has a particular interest in advancing shifts in U.S. foreign policy,” it adds.

In 2024, RBF’s assets totaled $1.4 billion, according to its most recent tax filings.

Even as it continues to reject BDS, J Street has recently shifted its policy and advocacy positions amid rising disillusionment with Israel’s conduct in Gaza. In August, Ben-Ami said he would no longer seek to push back against critics who claim Israel committed genocide in its war with Hamas. “I simply won’t defend the indefensible,” he wrote.

Earlier this month, meanwhile, he argued that the “longstanding framework built on unconditional support” for Israel “has broken down,” adding that “a changed reality demands a redefined approach to the relationship.”

Former RBF trustees have included Peter Beinart, a prominent anti-Zionist journalist, and Daniel Levy, a co-founder of J Street. In 2016, Nicholas Burns, a former veteran diplomat, resigned from the board, citing RBF’s “funding of organizations that support BDS,” which he called “fundamentally anti-Israeli.”

Stephen Heintz, RBF’s longtime president, who is stepping down this spring, also chairs the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, an isolationist think tank that has promoted sympathetic positions on Iran. 

“Although our budgets, programs, and strategies have fluctuated over my tenure,” he wrote earlier this month, “our values have remained constant.”