N.Y. Times: Tax-Exempt Gifts Bolster Settlements
Read the Forward’s related coverage here and here.
Tax-exempt donations from the United States have helped Jews to strengthen West Bank settlements, preventing the creation of a Palestinian state, The New York Times reported.
As the U.S. government is working to bring about an end to Jewish settlements and build a Palestinian state in the West Bank, U.S. Treasury tax breaks have provided $200 million in tax-free funding to the settlements from American donors, the lengthy report published Tuesday in the Times reported.
The newspaper identified at least 40 American groups that have collected more than $200 million for Jewish settlements in the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem, according to the report. The money goes mostly to schools, synagogues, recreation centers and other similar places. But some has paid for housing, guard dogs, bulletproof vests, rifle scopes and other security equipment.
“It’s a problem,” a senior State Department official was quoted as saying, adding, “It’s unhelpful to the efforts that we’re trying to make.”
The New York Times report quoted Daniel Kurtzer, the U.S. ambassador to Israel from 2001 to 2005, as saying: “It drove us crazy.” But “it was a thing you didn’t talk about in polite company.”
Kurtzer added that “a couple of hundred million dollars makes a huge difference,” and if carefully focused, “creates a new reality on the ground.”
American tax law is more lenient than Israel’s in some areas, according to the report, which pointed out that Israel ended tax breaks for contributions devoted exclusively to settlement-building a decade ago, and that it is illegal for outposts, as opposed to established settlements, to receive tax-deductible donations.
Americans also take tax breaks in giving to pro-Palestinian groups, the report pointed out. But giving to settlements is different since the U.S. government does not allow its aid to go to them.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news. All donations are still being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000 until April 24.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
