Jerusalem Institute of Justice

Jerusalem Institute of Justice ( JIJ ) is a human rights group in Israel that was founded by Calev Myers , committed to strengthening Israel's democracy by safeguarding civil rights, protecting religious freedom, and promoting social justice. Michael Decker is the group's Senior Legal Advisor and is a lawyer with a Bachelor of Arts law degree . The group dates back to 2004 and collaborates with law firms to fight cases of religious discrimination . When Christian humanitarian aid organizations were charged a 15.5% value added tax (VAT) on relief shipments for Israeli victims of the 2006 Lebanon War , JIJ negotiated a one-time $3,190,000 VAT discount on a $20,000,000 shipment. Another of the cases in which JIJ was involved was that against Yaakov Teitel , who was convicted of the 2008 attempted murder of Messianic pastor David Ortiz. Teitel had planted a bomb in a package that he believed would be opened by David Ortiz, but it was instead opened by David Ortiz's 15-year-old son Ami Ortiz; the family subsequently asked Myers to act as spokesperson for the family. In 2009, in cooperation with the Jewish Agency the Jerusalem Institute of Justice organized a demonstration in Geneva in response to Ahmadinejad's public and direct incitement against Israel. The event that was attended by thousands of both Christian and Jewish pro-Israel advocates featured Natan Sharansky as a guest speaker. JIJ also initiated a demonstration at the International Red Cross Headquarters to protest that none of their representatives had met with kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit . In 2011, JIJ organized a protest against Durban III , arguing that this conference of the United Nations promoted Israelophobia and calling on nations to boycott the conference. The protest took place on September 21 outside the United Nations Headquarters in New York City . On January 14th, 2012 the Jerusalem Institute of Justice petitioned the High Court of Justice to overturn Amendment 17, a law passed in 2010 granting synagogues a 100% exemption on municipal property taxes on the grounds that the exclusive application of the amendment to synagogues was undemocratic. On August 2, 2012, the Knesset officially extended Amendment 17 to all houses of worship and religious studies. JIJ's current pro-Israel advocacy initiatives include presentations before the European Parliament regarding the ongoing financial aid going to the Palestinian Authority despite the fact that no significant human rights reforms have been made. In 2012, JIJ founder Calev Myers taught university students in U.K. about effective pro-Israel advocacy by answering the most commonly used arguments against Israel.¹