Molad: The Center for the Renewal of Israeli Democracy

Molad operates as a liberal policy institute combining research, policy analysis, and public advocacy. Its current English-language homepage says its work seeks to shape the liberal camp's agenda and cultivate public intellectuals addressing Israel's political, social, constitutional, and geopolitical problems. It characterizes its approach as combining liberal values, political pragmatism, support for a secure Jewish state, equality for all citizens, and peaceful coexistence with neighboring countries.[3]

INSS included Molad in a 2017 survey of prominent Israeli think tanks dealing with foreign policy. That listing establishes Molad's recognized place in Israel's think-tank landscape, although it does not independently substantiate the organization's broader claims about its political influence.[6]

Molad was established in 2012 by Avner Inbar and Assaf Sharon, who served as its co-chairs, together with staff members and fellows drawn from Israeli civil-society organizations, academia, and politics.[2][4] Molad describes itself as an independent think tank seeking to introduce research-based ideas throughout Israeli public discourse, and it presents the shortage of such material as contributing to Israel's ongoing political and social crisis.[2]

The organization describes its mission as multidisciplinary: developing an equitable vision for Israel, contributing analysis on security, social, and economic problems, and seeking Israel's peaceful integration into its geopolitical environment.[3] Molad says it rejects affiliation with any political party, person, or movement, while simultaneously maintaining that it is not apolitical — a distinction it draws deliberately.[3]

Molad's current account identifies Inbar and Sharon as its founders. A 2012 NGO Monitor report also described Avraham Burg as a founder and chair, while listing Inbar as Molad's head, Sharon as research director, and Mikhael Manekin as director of policy.[2][1]

Molad's research portfolio has concentrated on several interlocking themes: settlement policy and public finance, security, Israeli democracy, and the two-state framework. A 2014 report titled "The Settlers' Secret Slush Fund," authored by analyst Liat Schlesinger, examined allocations by the Settlement Division of the World Zionist Organization. An INSS paper relaying the report said Molad found that 74.5 percent of the Division's support went to settlements in the West Bank — known by its original, indigenous Jewish name of Judea and Samaria — and that Beit El alone received more than all 115 beneficiaries in the Negev and Galilee combined.[7] A companion investigation conducted jointly with the Public Knowledge Workshop lasted roughly a year, mapped recipients of Settlement Division budget transfers, and compiled its findings in a 70-page booklet presented across 20 frames on a dedicated mini-site.[8]

Molad's publications from this period included the 2013 survey "The Peace Process, Settlements, National Priorities: Molad Survey 2013, Part II" and the December 2013 report "Alliance in Crisis: Israel's Standing in the World and the Question of Isolation."[9][5] INSS's Strategic Survey for Israel 2015–2016 cited Molad's May 2015 publication "Security Threats, Policy Opportunities, and Operation Protective Edge" in discussions of threat rankings, Operation Protective Edge, and settlement blocs. Because INSS frequently cited Molad alongside other surveys, not every individual finding in that discussion can be attributed uniquely to Molad.[10] A separate 50-page Molad study examined settlements and security and concluded, in Molad's characterization, that settlements were a burden rather than an asset to Israel's security posture.[4]

On religious affairs in public education, the U.S. Department of State's 2020 International Religious Freedom Report recorded Molad's assessment that growing "religionization" (hadata) in Israeli schools was politically motivated and aimed at increasing support for settlers.[11] A Molad research fellow also described the organization's work as including investigations of alleged corruption involving the Settlement Division and Minister Uri Ariel, as well as security analysis considering the possible collapse of Jordan's Hashemite regime and post-evacuation scenarios.[12]

In 2014, the Forum for Regional Thinking was launched within Molad, with the stated purpose of providing Israeli decision-makers and opinion-shapers with in-depth analysis of developments in the Middle East.[2]

Alongside its formal research, Molad developed a social-media outreach operation called "Project 61" — the number referring to the 61 Knesset members required to form a coalition.[4] The Facebook page, active since November 2012, used colorful graphics and concise posts to translate Molad's research and media material for general audiences; those behind the project said they emphasized reliability and fact-checking.[4] Molad also collaborates with graphic artists on a political satire publication titled "Sixty One."[5]

An early survey conducted by Molad attracted media attention in 2012 when it found that 32 percent of respondents had a favorable opinion of "the left," 33 percent shared its values, and one in two Israelis expressed clear left-wing positions on questions of war and peace, with support for left-wing socioeconomic positions running even higher.[13] Molad co-founder Avraham Burg described the gap between public opinion and political representation at the time: "There's a dramatic distance between the public's positions and the way those positions are presented in political discourse," and the organization estimated that rehabilitation of the Israeli left could take approximately ten years.[13]

Molad says its periodic public-opinion surveys and analysis helped shape the political strategy of center-left parties, and that its public-outreach work, including an in-house publishing function, supports the intellectual foundations of its broader agenda.[2]

Molad's funding sources have drawn scrutiny and generated disputes over the organization's independence. Co-founder Avner Inbar acknowledged that the organization received grants from the Tauber Foundation, the Moriah Foundation, the Soros Foundation, and the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation.[4] He also said Molad received New Israel Fund support for approximately two years before ending the relationship because of differences over operational approach, and denied that Molad had received money from the German government or the European Union as of the August 2017 interview.[4] A 2012 NGO Monitor report separately listed Molad as a grantee of the New Israel Fund's Social Justice Fund and said the grant amount had not been disclosed.[1]

Later funding records describe subsequent European Union support. NGO Monitor's profile lists a €600,000 grant for Molad's 2020–2022 project "Closing the confidence gap: restoring the viability of the two state solution," which aimed to shift attitudes among Israeli "partition sceptics."[5] An updated NGO Monitor funding table also lists €59,874 for a 2025 Molad project titled "The Day After, Gaza, and the EU: Perceptions of Israeli Policy Shapers."[14]

Key personnel over the organization's history have included Mikhael Manekin, who was listed as director of policy in 2012 and later as a former executive director of Molad.[1][5] He subsequently became director of the Alliance Fellowship program.[15] Liat Schlesinger appears in sources as a Molad analyst and an INSS panel speaker.[7][16] Researcher and editor Elisheva Goldberg was affiliated with Molad at least through 2014.[17]

Molad's profile as a progressive advocacy-research organization has made it a target of criticism from the Israeli right. NGO Monitor has published multiple critical profiles questioning Molad's transparency and characterizing several of its publications as politically tendentious; those characterizations are NGO Monitor's assessments rather than neutral descriptions.[5][1]

The most prominent public dispute arose in 2017, when Yair Netanyahu — son of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — posted social-media content describing Molad as a radical, anti-Zionist organization funded by the New Israel Fund and the European Union, or what he reportedly called "the fund for the destruction of Israel."[18] Molad responded by filing a defamation suit seeking NIS 140,000 and a public apology, asserting the accusations were false and designed to delegitimize the organization.[18] Netanyahu subsequently filed a countersuit, alleging that a "61" post about his residence and security expenses was defamatory and invaded his privacy.[18] By October 2018, court-mediated attempts at resolution had reportedly failed and the parties were headed for trial; no final judgment was reported in the available sources.[19]

Molad's conclusions about settlement finance and the security implications of Israeli presence in Judea and Samaria have also been contested. NGO Monitor called the organization's 2014 settlement-funding allegations unsubstantiated and cited criticism that the research contained fundamental errors.[5] Molad, by contrast, presents its settlement work as detailed research; in 2017, Sharon described a 50-page security study and characterized its conclusion as finding that settlements were a burden rather than an asset.[4]