Who is OneVoice founder Daniel Lubetzky?

Daniel Lubetzky, the Mexican-American billionaire who founded the OneVoice movement, which has branches in Tel Aviv, Ramallah and London, is also the person behind the Victory 2015 campaign, which is working to unseat Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the coming election and which recently joined up with OneVoice.

Lubetzky, 47, is a businessman and social activist who said several years ago that he believes that OneVoice, the organization he founded, will help make Middle East peace deal a reality. Members of the organization include well-known personalities from around the world.

As part of his work with OneVoice, Lubetzky has traveled to Israel and the Palestinian Authority. His meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and with his colleagues -- billionaire S. Daniel Abraham, businessman Alon Kastiel and Uri Weiss -- was publicized on Israeli and Palestinian websites and on Facebook.

According to OneVoice's website, Lubetzky established a business called PeaceWorks Inc. in 1994, which works to encourage economic cooperation in conflict areas by producing, packaging and distributing natural foods.

Lubetzky founded OneVoice in 2002 along with Mohammed Darawshe, co-executive director of the Abraham Fund Initiatives, as a way to end the conflict and the violence after the failure of the negotiations at Camp David.

The movement states that its mission is to amplify "the voice of mainstream Israelis and Palestinians, empowering them to propel their elected representatives toward the two-state solution."

Lubetzky, who has received several awards and honors, is also a successful businessman. He promotes a fashion line created by designers and artisans in developing countries, and also founded KIND Healthy Snacks, a natural foods company. On Sunday, he expressed interest in acquiring soccer club Hapoel Tel Aviv after current chairman and co-owner Haim Ramon leaves his post.

Among those listed on its website as belonging to the OneVoice Honorary Board of Advisers is former minister Rabbi Michael Melchior, who denies active involvement in the group and said he agreed to lend his name to the organization's friends association 12 years ago as he felt it was a worthy cause and Lubetzky had good intentions. He said that, as he was a Knesset member at the time, he would not join as an active member of the group.

Former Hatnuah MK Yoel Hasson, who holds the 16th spot on the Zionist Camp list, was also said to have ties to OneVoice's leadership. He too denied involvement.

Last week, Channel 2 News reported that Lubetzky, the primary donor for OneVoice and the V15 campaign, is also behind the new "Commanders for the Security of Israel" campaign, which features senior and former IDF officers, along with retired high-ranking officials from Israel's other security agencies, asking viewers to vote for a government that will "advance peace negotiations." The campaign also claims to be apolitical.

On the V15 website, a statement was posted saying, "Several weeks after we began our activities and saw that there is a great organization here with enormous potential, we approached some donors, all of them Jewish or Israeli businessmen -- concerned Zionists, like ourselves, who really identify with what we are doing.

"Among those that donated are Daniel Lubetzky, Alon Kastiel, Uri Weiss and S. Daniel Abraham. Some organizations also donated, among them OneVoice."

The statement came several days after V15 refused to provide Israel Hayom with a list of donors upon request.

Correction: Nissim Douek, one of the owners of the PR firm hired by Commanders for the Security of Israel, clarified that he is not involved in the election campaign for the Labor party, as was reported on Sunday. He further clarified that Ran Aharon works in the firm's office but is not a partner and that Commanders for the Security of Israel is not a political campaign.

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