The State of Israel has donated $5,000 to two Oakland nonprofits to help “foster meaningful relationships” with the local community, the S.F.-based consul general said Tuesday.

The donations are part of an “impact grant” program the Israeli government kicked off in Minneapolis two years ago. Through the program, regional consulates donate to urban nonprofits that help underserved communities.

The S.F.-based consulate, which serves the Pacific Northwest, announced its first two $5,000 grants on Tuesday at a ceremony with Oakland officials at the JCC of the East Bay.

The two grant recipients are MISSSEY, which addresses sexual violence and the exploitation of girls of color, and Oakland Genesis, which offers soccer coaching and academic help for teenagers from low-income families.

“By collaborating with Oakland-based organizations, we hope to help address some of the issues most relevant to this community, thereby strengthening the ties between California and Israel,” Consul General Marco Sermoneta said in remarks Tuesday, according to a copy of his speech.

The donations come after Oakland, a staunchly progressive city whose history is intertwined with radical politics, has witnessed boisterous demonstrations against Israel over recent years. Demonstrators who support the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against Israel have on numerous occasions temporarily blocked Israeli ships from unloading goods at the Port of Oakland. Last year, BDS groups also took credit for Oakland’s professional soccer team dropping its sponsor, Puma, which has outfitted the Israeli national soccer team since 2018. (The Oakland Roots denied changing sponsors for any political reason.)

It was an eye-opening experience to learn about the outstanding work of these organizations.

The impact grants began in Minneapolis in 2021, with three nonprofits each receiving $5,000, “out of our admiration of the way you came together to pick up the pieces after very challenging times,” Yinam Cohen, consul general to the Midwest, said at the time. The three nonprofits help people affected by gun violence, teach children basketball and life skills and introduce young people to science and tech careers.

The grants came a year and a half after a Minneapolis police officer murdered George Floyd, an incident that ignited a national reckoning with anti-Black racism and led to widespread protests.

Last year, Israel awarded $5,000 each to three Detroit-based nonprofits that help teens overcome cyberbullying, train people of color in environmental advocacy and work on clean water initiatives in the wake of the Flint, Michigan, water crisis.

Two members of the Oakland City Council — Treva Reid, a leading candidate for mayor last year, and Dan Kalb — attended Tuesday’s event in Berkeley. State Sen. Aisha Wahab (D-Hayward) was slated to attend but couldn’t make it, according to the consulate.

Matt Fondy, a soccer coach and co-founder of Oakland Genesis, shared his appreciation for the grant during remarks at the event, according to a copy of his speech.

“Being a Jewish man and knowing how far the game of soccer has taken me personally, most recently to Israel itself to compete in the Maccabi Games, it fills me with tremendous pride to receive this grant,” he said.

Criteria for the grants included that the money would support a “specific project rather than just overhead costs” and that the groups were impacting “relevant issues in their communities,” consulate spokesperson Savanna Schwartz said.

The program gives the consulate the chance to “connect with organizations in the community that it might not otherwise have had connections with or interacted with,” Schwartz added.

Sermoneta said he learned more about the community through the grants.

“It was an eye-opening experience to learn about the outstanding work of these organizations,” Sermoneta said. “We are vividly aware of the small role we play in their upcoming projects but this doesn’t take anything away from the joy we feel knowing we were able to support them.”