| Established | 1992 (1992) |
|---|---|
| Type | Nonprofit |
| Headquarters | 165 East 56th Street |
| Location |
|
Chairman | Elliott Abrams |
Key people | Zalman Bernstein |
| Website | tikvahfund |
The Tikvah Fund (Hebrew: קרן תקווה) is an American politically conservative[1][2][3][4] nonprofit charitable foundation whose stated mission is to promote Jewish thought and ideas.[5]
Activities
As of 2011, the Tikvah Fund held assets worth more than $162 million.[6] That year, it provided a four-year $12.5 million grant to the Shalem Center to form an American-style liberal arts university in Israel, now Shalem College. The fund had supported the Shalem Center for the previous decade as well.[7]
The Tikvah Fund has funded several publications, including Commentary, Mosaic and its predecessor Jewish Ideas Daily, the Jewish Review of Books,[4] and Mida.[8] Shalem Center also sponsored neo-conservative magazine Azure and the Fund was behind academic journals Hebraic Political Studies and Toronto Journal of Jewish Thought.[6]
The Fund also organizes the Jewish Leadership Conference, a politically conservative Jewish conference.[9] Invitees in 2022 included Mike Pompeo, who served as Secretary of State under Donald Trump, former Israeli Ambassador to the United States Ron Dermer, and Governor of Florida Ron DeSantis.[1] Picketers attended to oppose DeSantis' speech.[10]
It runs a fellowship programme named after Charles Krauthammer which is awarded to aspiring writers, journalists, scholars, and policy analysts'.[11]
In September 2025, despite mass cancellations of other grants related to Jewish studies by DOGE, Tikvah fund was awarded $10.5 million by the National Endowment for the Humanities "to combat antisemitism". It was the largest single grant in NEH history.[12] In March 2026, a federal judge ruled in a lawsuit by the ACLS, AHA, and MLA that the grant cancellations were unconstitutional.[13] In the process of the lawsuit, it was found that acting NEH chair Michael McDonald proactively solicited Tikvah for the grant application. The application was voted down by the NEH's outside scholarly council, but McDonald intervened against standard procedure to directly approve the grant.[14]
Leadership
Robert Hertog (director of Alliance Capital Management) was chairman of the Tikvah Fund in 2011.[7] Neal Kozodoy was senior director as of 2010.[15] As of 2022, Eric Cohen was chief executive and Elliot Abrams was chairman.[1][3]
References
- Barron, James (May 13, 2022). "Invitation to DeSantis Creates Clash at a Jewish Museum". The New York Times.
- Fox, Mira (June 22, 2022). "This law professor argued that Reform Jews aren't devout enough to merit religious freedom". The Forward. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
- Henry, Jacob (May 6, 2022). "Did a New York Holocaust museum ban Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis? Depends whom you ask". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
- Waxman, Dov (2016). Trouble in the Tribe: The American Jewish Conflict Over Israel. Princeton University Press. p. 100. ISBN 9780691168999.
- Pogrebin, Robin (November 9, 2012). "A Patron's Passion for History on Display". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
- Braiterman, Zachary (2011-09-13). "Conservative Money and Jewish Studies: Investigating the Tikvah Fund". eJewishPhilanthropy. Retrieved 2026-01-03.
- Lidman, Melanie (May 4, 2011). "Shalem Center gets major grant for college". The Jerusalem Post.
- Tucker, Nati (June 11, 2013). "Some News Websites Can Forgo the Paywall--in Israel, too". Haaretz. Retrieved 4 March 2017.
- Stack, Liam (June 11, 2022). "DeSantis Event at Chelsea Piers Faces Backlash Over L.G.B.T.Q. Rights". The New York Times.
- Papenfuss, Mary (June 13, 2022). "NYC Protesters Blast Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis At Conservative Event". HuffPost.
- Ken Silverstein, How a Hedge Fund Manager and Right-Wing Donor is Financing an Israeli Influence Op Masquerading as a Journalism Project,' CounterPunch 21 June 2024.
- Dayanim, Nira (15 September 2025). "NEH awards its largest-ever grant, worth $10.4M, to Tikvah Fund for 'Jewish Civilization Project' to combat antisemitism". eJewishPhilanthropy.
- "ACLS, AHA, and MLA File Motion for Summary Judgment to Restore Previous NEH Function and Funding". ACLS. 7 March 2026.
- Schuessler, Jennifer (7 March 2026). "When DOGE Unleashed ChatGPT on the Humanities". New York Times.
- Cohen, Patricia (June 11, 2010). "Commentary Is All About Commentary These Days". The New York Times.
Further reading
- Slyomovics, Nettanel (December 23, 2020). "The Conservative U.S. Group Trying to Transform Israel's Justice System". Haaretz.
- Cohen, Marsha B. (October 19, 2016). "The Hub of the Jewish Neoconservative Echo Chamber". LobeLog.