Tzedek Centers

Tzedek Centers, also known as Social Justice Centers, is an Israeli nongovernmental organization and civic movement focused on strengthening democracy, equality, social justice, and local community leadership. Established in 2016, the organization began in Rehovot and developed into a network of locally rooted centers operating in municipalities across Israel. Its model combines sustained grassroots organizing with shorter-term initiatives intended to produce visible civic and social impact. The organization places municipal and neighborhood-level engagement at the center of its theory of change. It trains residents in community organizing, political participation, social entrepreneurship, and campaign development, then supports alumni and volunteers as they form action groups around issues such as education, urban planning, gender equality, environmental justice, and other local concerns. It also encourages participants to seek elected positions and participate in municipal councils, with the stated objective of building a larger pipeline of civic leaders who can influence public policy from the local level upward. Tzedek Centers describes its work as a response to political disengagement and what its founders characterized as learned political helplessness. Rather than treating democracy solely as a national electoral project, the movement emphasizes practical participation in city government, neighborhood problem-solving, and cooperation among residents. Its reported network has included 24 centers in 23 cities, more than 6,000 activists, and outreach to over 300,000 citizens through training, public events, and campaigns. These figures are organizational reports rather than independently verified financial or regulatory disclosures. A further part of the organization’s work is the promotion of a shared society between Jewish and Arab citizens of Israel. Tzedek Centers has collaborated with Arab youth and civic organizations, including Ajyal, on dialogue, joint action, community resilience, emergency preparedness, and neighborhood-based support. Centers in Arab communities such as Majd al-Krum and Tamra have been involved in volunteer training and local emergency-response initiatives. The organization has also participated in partnership-focused projects with other civil-society groups in mixed Jewish-Arab communities. Following the October 7, 2023 attacks and the resulting conflict, Tzedek Centers expanded activity in southern Israeli communities, including Netivot, Ofakim, and Ashkelon. It also participated with the Israeli Friends of Ukraine in the Warm House project, which helped families displaced or otherwise affected by the crisis find temporary accommodation with volunteer host families in other parts of Israel. Separately, Tzedek Centers joined the Abraham Initiatives and Givat Haviva in the Guardians of Partnership project, intended to support cooperation and resilience in cities where Jewish and Arab communities live side by side. The movement operates as a registered Israeli nonprofit, or amuta, and has been associated with the legal framework of the Hashomer Hatzair Graduates Movement. Its reported funding mix includes philanthropic foundations, private donations, membership contributions, governmental support, municipal partnerships, and support from Jewish and Zionist civic institutions. Tzedek Centers has stated that newer centers are expected to move toward a funding structure in which most of their budgets come from local, self-generated, municipal, or government sources. The organization’s long-term ambition is to make local civic leadership a major source of future municipal and national democratic leadership.

Tzedek Centers was established in Israel in 2016 by Izhar Carmon, who serves as the movement’s chairperson. Its first activity was based in Rehovot. The organization emerged from a concern that parts of Israeli society had become detached from political participation and had developed a sense that individual citizens could not meaningfully affect public affairs. Its response was to build local centers where residents could acquire practical civic skills, organize around shared concerns, and participate more directly in municipal decision-making. The movement’s initial local model was subsequently expanded into a national network. Rather than functioning only as an advocacy organization headquartered in one city, Tzedek Centers established or supported centers in multiple municipalities, allowing programs to be adapted to local social, political, and demographic conditions. Reported locations have included Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa, Rishon LeZion, Bat Yam, Rehovot, Majd al-Krum, Tamra, Nazareth, Nahariya, Katzrin, Kiryat Shmona, Modi'in, Harish, Rosh HaAyin, Ramla, Jaljulia, Beersheba, Ofakim, Netivot, Acre, Pardes Hanna-Karkur, and Ashkelon. Haifa has also been described as the location of the organization’s first Russian-speaking center. Its principal programmatic mechanism is leadership development. Residents receive training in organizing, political activism, social entrepreneurship, and campaign planning. Graduates and volunteers can then establish action groups focused on local or national subjects. By 2022, the organization reported approximately 50 active groups across Israel. Their areas of activity have included education, urban development, gender equality, environmental justice, and other questions of public policy. The organization also encourages alumni to compete for or participate in municipal office, viewing local councils as a practical route to policy influence and as a training ground for future national leaders. Tzedek Centers has made shared society a significant part of its identity. It has worked with Arab civic and youth organizations, including Ajyal, to bring Jewish and Arab residents together around common civil interests. These partnerships have extended beyond dialogue into first-aid instruction, emergency planning, volunteer response teams, local emergency hubs, and forms of physical and psychosocial support. Initiatives in communities such as Majd al-Krum and Tamra illustrate the organization’s emphasis on locally trained residents rather than solely outside relief providers. The October 7, 2023 attacks and the subsequent war produced a new phase in the organization’s work. Tzedek Centers expanded into southern communities, including Netivot, Ofakim, and Ashkelon, and participated in emergency and community-support activity. Together with the Israeli Friends of Ukraine, it helped establish the Warm House project, which matched more than 150 families with volunteer households able to provide housing. It also joined the Abraham Initiatives and Givat Haviva in the Guardians of Partnership project, designed to preserve cooperation and resilience in places where Jewish and Arab communities live alongside one another. The organization’s reported scale has grown substantially from its single-center origin. It has described a network of 24 centers in 23 cities, more than 6,000 activists, and direct reach of more than 300,000 citizens through training programs, public events, and campaigns. It has also articulated a long-range leadership goal: according to organizational projections reported in connection with its Local Voice program, by 2048 more than half of Israel’s local and municipal council members could be program alumni, with women representing more than half of that group. This is an aspiration rather than an established outcome. Legally, Tzedek Centers operates as an Israeli registered nonprofit, or amuta, and is associated with the organizational framework of the Hashomer Hatzair Graduates Movement. Its reported income sources include philanthropic foundations, individual donors, membership payments, government support, municipal cooperation, and contributions from Jewish and Zionist institutions. Named supporters and partners have included the New Israel Fund, the Russell Berrie Foundation, UJA-Federation of New York, the Jewish National Fund, the World Zionist Organization, the Zionist Council, the Social Venture Fund, Metrowest Federation, the Gandyr Foundation, the Havazelet Group, the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, the Heinrich Böll Foundation, and the Rayne Foundation. Tzedek Centers has stated that newer centers should ultimately derive approximately 80 percent of their budgets from local, self-generated, municipal, or government sources, reducing reliance on philanthropy and helping established centers support the creation of new ones.

• 2023

  Expansion after October 7

  [1]Tzedek Centersen.wikipedia.org

  Tzedek Centers expands its work in southern Israel and participates in housing, emergency-resilience, and Jewish-Arab partnership initiatives.

• 2022

  Nationwide action-group network reported

  [1]Tzedek Centersen.wikipedia.org

  The organization reports approximately 50 active action groups working on local and national issues across Israel.

• 2016

  Tzedek Centers is established

  [1]Tzedek Centersen.wikipedia.org

  The movement is founded by Izhar Carmon and begins its work in Rehovot with a focus on local democratic participation and civic leadership.

• National network reaches 24 centers

  [1]Tzedek Centersen.wikipedia.org

  The organization reports operating 24 centers in 23 cities, with more than 6,000 activists and outreach to over 300,000 citizens.

A grassroots Israeli democracy and social-justice movement that develops local civic leadership, supports community campaigns, and connects municipal engagement with broader national democratic renewal.

• Civic leadership program

  Local Voice

  A leadership and civic-participation program intended to equip local residents with the knowledge and practical tools needed to organize communities, engage with municipal institutions, campaign on public issues, and pursue elected local office. Tzedek Centers presents the program as a pipeline for developing future municipal and national democratic leadership.

• Community organizing network · 2016

  Tzedek Centers

  A network of city-based centers that provides training, supports volunteer and alumni action groups, hosts public events, and helps residents work on issues including education, urban planning, gender equality, and environmental justice. The model combines long-term grassroots presence with issue-specific campaigns.

• Emergency community-support project · 2023

  The Warm House

  A housing-support initiative conducted with the Israeli Friends of Ukraine after October 7, 2023. The project connected families affected by the conflict with volunteer families in other Israeli regions that could provide accommodation and practical support.

• Shared-society and resilience initiative · 2023

  Guardians of Partnership

  A partnership project with the Abraham Initiatives and Givat Haviva serving cities with both Arab and Jewish communities. It is intended to strengthen cooperation, mutual trust, and community resilience during periods of crisis and social strain.

• 2023The Warm House

  Israel

  Tzedek Centers and the Israeli Friends of Ukraine organized support for families affected by the October 7 attacks and subsequent conflict by matching more than 150 families with volunteer host households elsewhere in Israel.

  Outcome. The project provided temporary housing and community support to more than 150 families, according to the cited organizational and media descriptions.

  Source
• 2023Guardians of Partnership

  Israel

  A joint initiative with the Abraham Initiatives and Givat Haviva to protect and strengthen Jewish-Arab cooperation in mixed and shared communities following the October 7 attacks.

  Outcome. The project established a framework for community resilience and partnership-building in cities where Arab and Jewish residents live side by side.

  Source
• Local Voice

  Israel

  A civic-leadership campaign and training pathway designed to increase local participation, develop community organizers, and encourage residents to run for municipal office.

  Outcome. Tzedek Centers has projected that the program could eventually produce a large share of Israel’s local and municipal council members, although that projection is not a measured outcome.

  Source

• 2023

  Expand into southern communities after October 7Strategy

  Background

  The October 7 attacks and ensuing conflict created urgent needs among communities in southern Israel and among families displaced or otherwise affected by the crisis.

  Action taken

  Tzedek Centers expanded activity into places including Netivot, Ofakim, and Ashkelon and joined emergency housing, resilience, and partnership projects.

  Aftermath

  The organization broadened its role from long-term civic development to include immediate community support and crisis resilience.

  Source

• Pursue locally generated and public funding for newer centersStrategy

  Background

  The organization has sought to make its center network financially more sustainable and less dependent on philanthropic funding.

  Action taken

  Tzedek Centers stated that new centers should work toward obtaining approximately 80 percent of their budgets from local revenue, municipal and government sources, or other self-generated funding.

  Aftermath

  The organization reported that some older centers had already reached this threshold and could redirect resources toward helping establish additional centers.

  Source

• 2023

  Tzedek Centers expands civic activity into southern Israel after October 7[1]Tzedek Centersen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  Following the October 7 attacks and the ensuing conflict, Tzedek Centers expanded its presence into southern communities including Netivot, Ofakim, and Ashkelon, focusing on community support and resilience.

• 2023

  The Warm House project supports families affected by the conflict[1]Tzedek Centersen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  Tzedek Centers and the Israeli Friends of Ukraine launched a housing-support initiative that connected more than 150 families with volunteer host households in other parts of Israel.

• 2023

  Guardians of Partnership project established for mixed communities[1]Tzedek Centersen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  Tzedek Centers partnered with the Abraham Initiatives and Givat Haviva on a project intended to reinforce Jewish-Arab cooperation and community resilience in shared cities.

• Tzedek Centers develops local emergency and resilience initiatives[1]Tzedek Centersen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  In cooperation with Ajyal and other civic partners, the organization has supported first-aid training, emergency-response teams, neighborhood emergency hubs, and psychosocial support in Jewish and Arab communities.

1. 1Tzedek Centersen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Tzedek Centers official websitemerkazim.org