Central Fund of Israel

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The Central Fund of Israel is an American non-profit association which funds projects in Israel, settlement projects in the West Bank including, according to Politico, Israeli pro-settler groups. [1] [2] [3] [4] It is run out of the Marcus Brothers Textiles store on Sixth Avenue in Manhattan. [4] Its director is Jay Marcus. [5] Itamar Marcus is a former vice president of the fund [6]

Contents

Fund recipients

According to its director, the CFI donated in 2009 approximately $13 million to programs that included social-humanitarian, medical, education, religious, security and community projects. [2] [3] [4] [7] [8]

The fund also supports Women in Green and Honenu  [ he ], the "legal rights group" that acted on behalf of the family of Netanel Arami, [9] and which, according to Haaretz , provides legal defense for "radical right-wing activists". [5] [10] [11] There are financial links between the fund and Im Tirtzu, for whom it is the main channel for donations. [6] [11] [12] [13]

In May 2021, The Intercept reported, "Since 2011, the CFI has given the Israel Land Fund over $720,000 for its settlement activities, according to documents filed to Israeli regulators and reviewed by The Intercept. In 2017, the Central Fund of Israel’s donation constituted 99.2 percent of the Israel Land Fund’s total budget." [14]

Criticism

NYT "clearing house" report

The organization was among a number of US groups reported by The New York Times as using tax exempt status to help fund the Israeli settlement project in the occupied territories. The New York Times described the fund as a "prominent clearing house" used by dozens of West Bank organisations as "a vehicle for channeling donations back to themselves" in order for donors to receive US tax breaks. [4] The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee has filed a number of complaints with the US Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service over organizations, such as the Central Fund of Israel, that fund settlement development in the West Bank. [15]

Other claims

The Central Fund of Israel funds right-wing Zionist organisations [12] [15] [16] operating in the occupied territories. Funds were reportedly directed to the Od Yosef Chai yeshiva. [15] [16] The yeshiva, located in the West Bank had come under scrutiny after Yitzhak Shapira, a rabbi at the yeshiva, said it is permissible to kill Palestinian babies because of "the future danger that will arise if they are allowed to grow into evil people like their parents." [15] [16]

The Israel Land Fund, a benefactor of the Central Fund of Israel, "assisted in the eviction of a Palestinian family in Sheikh Jarrah in 2017". [17]

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References

  1. ↑ Uri Blau, 'Haaretz Investigation: U.S. Donors Gave Settlements More Than $220 Million in Tax-exempt Funds Over Five Years,' Haaretz 7 December 2015.
  2. 1 2 "Major pro-Israel giver funds 'Jihad Watch'". The Jerusalem Post . September 5, 2010. Retrieved March 6, 2012.
  3. 1 2 "The Softspoken Man Behind Times of Israel". The Forward . February 29, 2012. Archived from the original on March 6, 2012. Retrieved March 6, 2012.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Jim Rutenberg; Mike McIntire; Ethan Bronner (July 5, 2010). "Tax-Exempt Funds Aid Settlements in West Bank". The New York Times . Retrieved March 5, 2012.
  5. 1 2 Boaz Gaon, Jonathan Gurfinkel (March 25, 2011). "Charge of the left brigade". Haaretz . Retrieved March 6, 2012.
  6. 1 2 Barak Ravid (January 31, 2012). "Officials: Israel outsources monitoring of Palestinian media after IDF lapse". Haaretz . Retrieved March 5, 2012.
  7. ↑ "Hanan Ashrawi ignores glorification of terror". July 13, 2010.
  8. ↑ "Tax-Exempt Funds and West Bank Settlements". The New York Times. July 12, 2010.
  9. ↑ Soffer, Ari (26 November 2014). "Jewish Construction Worker Was Killed by Arabs in Terror Attack". Arutz Sheva. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  10. ↑ Jonathan Lis (February 5, 2010). "Amid row over contentious ad, Jerusalem Post fires Naomi Chazan of New Israel Fund". Haaretz . Retrieved March 6, 2012.
  11. 1 2 Eli Clifton (February 9, 2010). "U.S. Non-Profit Targeted Rights Group over Goldstone". Inter Press Service . Archived from the original on January 17, 2012. Retrieved March 5, 2012.
  12. 1 2 "Foreign Ministry working with rightists against Palestinian incitement". Haaretz . May 7, 2010. Retrieved March 15, 2012.
  13. ↑ Jonathan Freedland (February 18, 2010). "Israel needs its internal critics". The Jewish Chronicle . Retrieved March 5, 2012.
  14. ↑ "Tax-Exempt U.S. Nonprofits Fuel Israeli Settler Push to Evict Palestinians". The Intercept. 14 May 2021. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  15. 1 2 3 4 E.B. Solomont (January 8, 2010). "Beit Orot holds NY fundraising dinner". The Jerusalem Post . Retrieved March 5, 2012. In recent months, donations to the Od Yosef Chai yeshiva in the Yitzhar settlement came under scrutiny after a rabbi at the yeshiva said it is permissible to kill Palestinian babies because of "the future danger that will arise if they are allowed to grow into evil people like their parents." Another rabbi at the yeshiva reportedly encouraged incitement against Arabs and Israeli security forces seeking to enforce the government's settlement policies. According to investigative reporter Philip Weiss, on his Web site, mondoweiss.net, the yeshiva received $27,000 from the New York-based Central Fund of Israel in 2007 and 2008.
  16. 1 2 3 Akiva Eldar (December 15, 2009). "U.S. tax dollars fund rabbi who excused killing gentile babies". Haaretz . Retrieved March 5, 2012. This is the same yeshiva whose rabbi said it is permissible to kill gentile babies because of "the future danger that will arise if they are allowed to grow into evil people like their parents."...A report on donations submitted by the yeshiva to the registrar of nonprofit organizations revealed that the American public also participates in financing the message coming out of Yitzhar. It states that in 2007 and 2008, the yeshiva received NIS 102,547 from an American foundation known as the Central Fund of Israel.
  17. ↑ "Tax-Exempt U.S. Nonprofits Fuel Israeli Settler Push to Evict Palestinians". The Intercept. 14 May 2021. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
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