Portland Trust

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The Portland Trust is a British non-profit organisation whose mission is said to be ‘to promote peace and stability between Israelis and Palestinians through economic development.’[1]

It was founded in London in 2003 by Sir Ronald Cohen, co-founder and former Chairman of the private equity firm Apax Partners, together with Sir Harry Solomon, co-founder and former chairman and CEO of Hillsdown Holdings. The trust has offices in London, Tel Aviv and Ramallah.


Affiliations

  • Herzliya Conference (February 2009) - Sir Ronald Cohen attended as a participant, chairing a panel on 'Jumpstarting the Israeli-Palestinian Process: Economic Initiatives and Political Derivatives'. [2]

People

Trustees

  • Sir Ronald Cohen, co-founder. Sir Ronald Cohen (born 1945) is an Egyptian-born British businessman. In 1957, in the aftermath of the Suez War, Cohen fled with his family from Egypt to the UK as part of the exodus of Jewish refugees. He is reportedly worth around £250 million.[3] He is the Chairman of Big Society Capital, Founder Chairman of The Portland Trust (2003-) and Bridges Ventures (2002-2012); Founder Director of Social Finance Ltd (2007-2011) and Social Finance USA (2010-). In January 2005, Cohen became a Director of the British Museum. Cohen is also a member of the executive committee of the London based International Institute of Strategic Studies, a right-wing and neoconservative think tank.[4] In 1972 Cohen founded Apax Partners, one of Britain's first and biggest venture capital firms. Apax has invested more than $2 billion in Israel with Bezeq Israeli Telecommunication Co. Ltd. (TASE: BEZQ) and Tnuva Food Industries Ltd. being two of the biggest and best known investments.[5] In 1974 Cohen stood as the parliamentary candidate for the Liberal Party in Kensington North, and in 1979 he stood as its European candidate in London West. In 1996 he switched allegiance to the Labour Party, becoming a supporter of Tony Blair. In 2004, Cohen was the Labour Party's fourth largest financial supporter, after Lord Sainsbury, Sir Christopher Ondaatje and Lord Hamlyn. According to Robert Peston, Cohen has contributed £1.8m to the Labour Party.[6] The Guardian reported that in 2006 Cohen ‘started to take over the role of government [Middle East] emissary from Lord Levy by meeting Israeli leaders, including the prime minister, Ehud Olmert’.[7] About his connections to Israel, Cohen told the Times: ‘If you look at my history: born in Egypt, a refugee, married to the daughter of the commander of the Exodus who's an Israeli, there's an obvious connection between me and the region.’[8] Cohen says he is a believer in two state solution for Israel and Palestine. In regards to the Portland Trust’s activities he claimed:
‘I won't be involved in the settlements, and I think that our great challenge is not the 300,000 to 400,000 people who live beyond the Green Line, but the seven million people who live within it, a quarter of whom live below the poverty line and many of whom suffer from severe social problems, such as chronic unemployment, dropping out of school, and so forth. Personally, I want to support residents within the Green Line, and through the Portland Trust, Palestinians who reside beyond it.’::[9]
  • Sir Harry Solomon,(born 1937) is the founder of Hillsdown Holdings, one of the United Kingdom's largest food businesses. He was knighted in 1991. In 2010 he was elected Chair of the board of trustees of the Western Galilee College, a school in northern Israel. The college is supported by UJIA, the British wing of Karen Hayesod.[10] In 1985 he established the Heatshide Charitable Trust.[11] In 2012 it made donations to various causes totaling £608,119 of which £150,000 went to the Portland Trust.[12] In 2009 it donated £126,000 to the UJIA. Solomon is also trustee of the Solomon Charitable Trust (founded in 1984). In 2011 it made a total of 37 grants worth £19,067 without specifying who the recipients were.[13]
  • Lord David Freud, former CEO of The Portland Trust between 2005-2008 after retiring as Vice Chairman from UBS Investment Banking, remains a Trustee and Director. His services had a valuation of £150,000 but they were included in the Trust’s accounts as gifted services.[14].Freud was appointed UK Minister for Welfare and Reform in May 2010.[15]
  • Mick Davis,(born 1958) is a South African/British businessman. He was Chief Executive of Xstrata from October 2001 to 2013 when it was bought by commodity trader Glencore. As a result Davis received a payoff of almost £75 million.[16] He is also Chairman of UJIA, and a member of the Jewish Leadership Council. He is on the Board of Governors of the Jewish Agency for Israel, and a member of the World Executive of Keren Hayesod – Israel United Appeal.[17] In 2011 the Telegraph reported that Davis gave Michael Gove £7,500 to support him ‘in the capacity as an MP’.[18] He is one of the main donors to the Conservative party, donating£500,000 in 2013 and £150,000 to in 2010/11.[19] David also funded the successful No2AV campaign, which fought to maintain the UK s current voting system in a referendum with £100,000.[20]

In 2010, the JLC leader provoked widespread debate by criticizing Israeli policy on the peace process. He wrote: ::'If… the world community no longer believes that a two-state solution is possible, we de facto become an apartheid state because we then have the majority who are going to be governed by the minority.::[21] In 2013 David reiterated his criticism of Netanyahu’s government in an online article for the Israeli newspaper writing that diaspora efforts to fight delegitimisation of Israel were being hampered by the actions of his government.[22]

Staff

Four of the trust's 15 staff are employed in the UK, with six in Ramallah and four in Tel Aviv.[23]

Funding

The Trust is registered as a charity in England and Wales (charity no 1106429). It received income of £1,555,098 and spent £1.57 million in charitable spending in the year ending December 2009. [26]

Grants

Publications

Contact

Address:
Phone:
Email:
Website:

Resources

Notes

  1. ↑ The Portland Trust,Homepage, accessed 20 October 2010.
  2. ↑ Institute for Policy and Strategy Ninth Herzliya Conference on the Balance of Israel’s National Security: Executive Summary February 2-4, 2009, Accessed 20 October 2010
  3. ↑ Institutional Investor, http://www.institutionalinvestor.com/Popups/PrintArticle.aspx?ArticleID=1423897 accessed 1 March
  4. ↑ Ronald Cohen,http://www.ronaldcohen.net/about accessed 1 March 2014
  5. ↑ Shahar Smooha and Shlomit Lann, ‘Riding to the Rescue of Israel’s Third Sector’, http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-1000856340, 24 June 2013, Globes, accessed 1 March 2014
  6. ↑ Robert Peston, Who Runs Britain?, Hodder and Stoughton, 2008
  7. ↑ ‘Sir Ronald Cohen: Financier who is hoping for a peace dividend,’ The Guardian, July 7, 2006
  8. ↑ http://www.bollyn.com/who-really-controls-our-political-parties#sthash.ozRphSDA.dpuf accessed 1 March 2014
  9. ↑ Shahar Smooha and Shlomit Lann, ‘Riding to the Rescue of Israel’s Third Sector’, http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-1000856340, 24 June 2013, Globes, accessed 1 March 2014
  10. ↑ WGC Newsletter, http://www.wgalil.ac.il/files%5C31.8.10_newsletter_september.pdf accessed 1 March 2014
  11. ↑ Heathside Charitable Trust, http://apps.charitycommission.gov.uk/Accounts/Ends59/0000326959_AC_20121231_E_C.pdf accessed 1 March 2014
  12. ↑ Ibid.
  13. ↑ THE SOLOMON FAMILY CHARITABLE TRUST ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2011
  14. ↑ http://apps.charitycommission.gov.uk/Accounts/Ends29/0001106429_AC_20081231_E_C.PDF accessed 1 March 2014
  15. ↑ David Freud, David Freud Biography, The Conservatives, accessed 16-October-2010
  16. ↑ Simon Goodley, ‘Mick Davis departs Xstrata with nearly £75m’, 16 April 2013, The Guardian, http://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/apr/16/mick-davis-leaves-xstrata-with-75m, accessed 1 March 2014
  17. ↑ http://www.thejlc.org/author/mickd/ accessed 1 March 2014
  18. ↑ Holly Watt, and Heidi Blake,’City financiers fund Michael Gove's private office’ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/conservative/8840033/City-financiers-fund-Michael-Goves-private office.html, Telegraph, 21 October 2011, accessed 8 March 2014
  19. ↑ Christopher Hope, Xstrata's Mick Davis gives £500,000 to Conservatives http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/10059773/Xstratas-Mick-Davis-gives-500000-to-Conservatives.html, 15 May 2013, The Telegraph, accessed 10 March 2014
  20. ↑ Ibid.
  21. ↑ Simon Rocker, ‘Shock over senior UK Jewish leader's Bibi criticism’ http://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/41422/shock-over-senior-uk-jewish-leaders-bibi-criticism, 18 November 2010, JC, accessed 5 March 2014
  22. ↑ Simon Rocker, ‘Mick Davis: Bibi hinders peace efforts and diaspora's attempts to defend Israel’, 28 November 2013,http://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/113557/mick-davis-bibi-hinders-peace-efforts-and-diasporas-attempts-defend-israel
  23. ↑ Charity Commission, The Portland Trust, accessed 20 October 2010.
  24. ↑ The Portland Trust, About us, accessed 20 October 2010.
  25. ↑ Senior management, The Portland Trust, accessed 27 March 2013.
  26. ↑ Charity Commission, The Portland Trust, accessed 20 October 2010.
  27. ↑ Charity Commission, The Portland Trust Accounts 2009, accessed 20 October 2010.
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