Jewish Community Partners

Every March – June, shareholders of public corporations can file proposals and vote on issues affecting the company at its annual meeting. This process, referred to as “proxy season,” has increasingly been used by Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) activists to amplify their anti-Israel and hateful messaging.

Foundation’s partner, JLENS in partnership with the ADL, jumped into action this year to thwart a proposal put forth by an Amazon shareholder group. According to officials at JLENS, the proposed resolution was viewed as containing inflammatory language and defamed Israel as an apartheid state.

Furthermore, the proposal, ostensibly aimed to uphold human rights, singled out Israel as the sole foreign country and was supported by false statements alleging that the Israeli government uses Amazon Web Services “to support the apartheid system under which Palestinians are surveilled, unlawfully detained, and tortured.” Because of this it sought to end a $1.2 billion cloud computing agreement with Israel.

An aggressive campaign urging shareholders to “vote against” the Amazon shareholder proposal was launched. In addition to targeting shareholders, JLENS and ADL leaders held direct conversations with the largest proxy advisory firm that provides research to many of the world’s top institutional investors. As a result of their efforts, the advisory firm changed its position AND only 16% of shareholder votes were cast in favor (as compared to 34% in the year prior).

Founded in 2012, JLens empowers investors to align their capital with Jewish values and advocates for Jewish communal priorities in the corporate arena. Over 30 Jewish institutions have invested $250 million in JLens’ Jewish Advocacy Strategy since 2015. JLENS is part of the Jewish Foundation of Memphis’ investment platform.
Join JLENS managing director Ari Hoffnung and Jewish impact investing expert Michael Lustig on Tuesday, September 24 for a conversation about values-based impact investing. The event starts at 11:30 am at the Memphis Jewish Community Center. Continuing education credit will be awarded to professional advisors in attendance for TN Licensed Attorneys & TN Certified Financial Planners.

RSVP by clicking here. Every March – June, shareholders of public corporations can file proposals and vote on issues affecting the company at its annual meeting. This process, referred to as “proxy season,” has increasingly been used by Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) activists to amplify their anti-Israel and hateful messaging.

Foundation’s partner, JLENS in partnership with the ADL, jumped into action this year to thwart a proposal put forth by an Amazon shareholder group. According to officials at JLENS, the proposed resolution was viewed as containing inflammatory language and defamed Israel as an apartheid state. 

Furthermore, the proposal, ostensibly aimed to uphold human rights, singled out Israel as the sole foreign country and was supported by false statements alleging that the Israeli government uses Amazon Web Services “to support the apartheid system under which Palestinians are surveilled, unlawfully detained, and tortured.” Because of this it sought to end a $1.2 billion cloud computing agreement with Israel. 

An aggressive campaign urging shareholders to “vote against” the Amazon shareholder proposal was launched. In addition to targeting shareholders, JLENS and ADL leaders held direct conversations with the largest proxy advisory firm that provides research to many of the world’s top institutional investors.  As a result of their efforts, the advisory firm changed its position AND only 16% of shareholder votes were cast in favor (as compared to 34% in the year prior).

Founded in 2012, JLens empowers investors to align their capital with Jewish values and advocates for Jewish communal priorities in the corporate arena. Over 30 Jewish institutions have invested $250 million in JLens’ Jewish Advocacy Strategy since 2015. JLENS is part of the Jewish Foundation of Memphis’ investment platform. 
Join JLENS managing director Ari Hoffnung and Jewish impact investing expert Michael Lustig on Tuesday, September 24 for a conversation about values-based impact investing. The event starts at 11:30 am at the Memphis Jewish Community Center. Continuing education credit will be awarded to professional advisors in attendance for TN Licensed Attorneys & TN Certified Financial Planners.

RSVP by clicking here.