U.S. Nonprofits Gave $220M to Settlements Over Five Years: Report
Settlement in Hebron. Image by Getty Images
American nonprofits donated more than $220 million to Israeli West Bank settlements from 2009 to 2013, according to a .
The investigation, published Monday, found that some 50 American organizations gave tax-deductible donations by private individuals to the settlements. The payments went to property purchase, home amenities and, in some cases, support to families of convicted Jewish terrorists.
The organizations named by Haaretz include the Central Fund of Israel, which supports settlement institutions; Honenu, which provided support to the terrorists’ families; and the Hebron Fund, which finances projects in the settler enclave in Hebron.
Donations to the NGOs are tax-deductible even though the United States government considers the settlements illegal.
“Concordant with permanent U.S. policies, this administration never defended or supported any activity associated with the settlements,” a White House official told Haaretz. “It doesn’t support or advance any activity that will legitimize them.”
It’s our birthday and we’re still celebrating!
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news.
This week we celebrate 129 years of the Forward. We’re proud of our origins as a Yiddish print publication serving Jewish immigrants. And we’re just as proud of what we’ve become today: A trusted source of Jewish news and opinion, available digitally to anyone in the world without paywalls or subscriptions.
We’ve helped five generations of American Jews make sense of the news and the world around them — and we aren’t slowing down any time soon.
As a nonprofit newsroom, reader donations make it possible for us to do this work. Support independent, agenda-free Jewish journalism and our board will match your gift in honor of our birthday!
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
