J Street Calls for Treasury Investigation Into Settlement Charities

July 13, 2010

J Street is calling on the U.S. Treasury Department to launch an investigation into whether American charities that fund Israeli settlement activity have broken the law. A recent New York Times report revealed a connection between an American organization that fundraises for Israeli political activity and “a former executive director of the banned Israeli political party Kahane Chai.” Kahane Chai was designated a terrorist organization by the United States in 1994.

Moreover, these tax-exempt organizations are working to undermine a two-state solution by deepening the occupation. Some even fund settlement outposts that the Israeli government considers illegal.

With the explicit goal of undermining a two-state solution, many of these groups raise tax-deductible contributions from the United States to deepen the occupation in the Occupied Territories. Some even fund settlement outposts that the Israeli government considers illegal. Settlement activity over the Green Line is diminishing the chances of a two-state solution and endangering Israel’s very future as a Jewish, democratic home. This isn’t a question of whether or not these groups have the legal right to raise funds for causes they believe in. The question is whether or not they have broken the law.