It is doubtful that the Israeli public would have even been aware of the competition held by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs for its Human Rights Tulip award, if not for the right-wing Israeli activists who organized to keep the B’Tselem organization from winning the prize and 100,000 euros ($113,000). Thirty organizations and human rights activists from around the world have reached the competition's final stage, among them two Israeli organizations, Adalah and B’Tselem. But while the Adalah nomination was met with apathy among right-wing Israeli activists, the B’Tselem nomination was a red flag.

According to the Tulip statutes, voters around the world may vote online for one of the organizations or activists who reached the final stage of the competition. The three nominees who garner the most votes by Sept. 18 will enter the finals. Then the Dutch foreign affairs minister will add another three candidates to the three chosen nominees.

Members of the My Israel movement are convinced that thanks to their rallying of the movement’s members and supporters, they have succeeded in knocking B’Tselem from third place (which it had reached until last week). The movement's chair, Sara Haetzni-Cohen (the granddaughter of veteran right-wing activist Elyakim Haetzni), spoke to Al-Monitor shortly before the onset of Rosh Hashanah on Sept. 13. She said that the activists are gratified at their work, but are also concerned that the timeout they were obligated to take in order to observe the New Year holiday will harm their progress. “Although our goal is important, we are forced to [halt our activities] to honor the holiday and the Jewish people,” Haetzni-Cohen said. “But when the holiday is over, 24 hours still remain until the end of the competition and we’ll work full steam ahead.”

My Israel is a virtual movement that works over the social networks and coordinates more than 140,000 members. Haetzni-Cohen, born in the Kiryat Arba settlement on the outskirts of Hebron, is a mother of two and currently lives in Jerusalem. She replaced Ayelet Shaked, who chaired the movement until she was elected to the Knesset. Until a few months ago, the My Israel chair was a volunteer position, but recently, Haetzni-Cohen said, it was decided to pay a modest, symbolic salary.