A Philadelphia-area billionaire has stopped funding a group tied to Israel’s judicial overhaul

An American billionaire from the Philadelphia suburbs who’s reportedly given millions of dollars to a conservative Israeli think tank seen as a key driver of the country’s contentious judicial overhaul says he will no longer fund the organization.

Arthur Dantchik, 65, cofounder of the Bala Cynwyd-based trading firm Susquehanna International Group, made that announcement after facing news media scrutiny and months of protests by a small group of Israelis outside his home in Gladwyne.

“When society is divided in a way that endangers democracy, the order of the day is to focus on bringing hearts together,” he said in a statement to the Israeli publication Calcalist on Friday.

“Throughout my entire life I supported a variety of organizations that promote individual liberties and economic freedom for every person,” he said. “… I believe that in this moment, the thing that the State of Israel needs the most is the fusion of divisions and the rehabilitation of the national unity.”

At issue was Dantchik’s support for the Kohelet Policy Forum, a think tank that helped develop Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to rein in what he has described as overreach by the country’s Supreme Court.

Israel’s parliament passed a law last month amid widespread protests and threats of strikes by doctors, military reservists, and others who denounced it as a power grab that would undermine faith in democratic institutions. The move drew condemnation from the Biden administration, while Republicans in Congress said it was inappropriate for the president to intervene in Israeli domestic affairs.

The law’s supporters said that it would give Israeli lawmakers greater authority to implement the policies they campaigned on and that it represented a much-needed check on an activist judiciary.

As a plan to transform the judicial system took hold in recent months, Israeli and American news organizations have scrutinized the role the Kohelet Policy Forum played in driving the proposal — and the donors backing the organization.

The think tank, which says it “strives to secure Israel’s future as the nation-state of the Jewish people,” was founded by a New York City native named Moshe Koppel. Dantchik, who also grew up in New York, has given the group millions of dollars, according to the New York Times and Israeli media.

And a group of some 30 Israelis has been protesting for months outside his house, according to Haaretz.

That effort appeared to get results last week, when Dantchik issued his statement to Calcalist saying he’s “decided to end my support for research institutes in Israel, including the Kohelet Forum.” A representative for Dantchik said he had no further comment.

Forbes estimates that Dantchik, who cofounded Susquehanna in 1987 with business partner Jeff Yass, is worth $7.3 billion. The firm was the earliest U.S. backer of the Chinese company behind social media app TikTok.