The Central Fund of Israel is an American all-volunteer charity association that has been operating for more than 30 years. Its charter involves the building up the land of Israel. It is run out of the Marcus Brothers Textiles store on Sixth Avenue in Manhattan.^[1] Its director is Jay Marcus, a resident of the West Bank settlement of Efrat.^[2] Itamar Marcus is a former vice president of the fund^[3]

In 2009, the CFI donated approximately $13 million to more than 250 charitable programs that included social-humanitarian, medical, education, religious, security and community projects. It has donated to Israeli pro-settler groups and to Israeli media monitoring groups.^{[4] [5][6][1]}

The organisation 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, effectively obstructing the foundation of a Palestinian state, which is generally accepted as a prerequisite for peace in the Middle East. The NYT report highlighted the anomaly of the American government working towards an end to the settlement enterprise and the establishment of a Palestinian state in the West Bank, while the treasury was helping to sustain settlements by giving tax breaks to those who support them. 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.^[1]

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. In a 2010 press release, the committee's National Executive Director Kareem Shora said, "The United States should work to enforce its stated policy on illegal settlements and not provide tax incentives for organizations that jeopardize our national interests and peace and security in the Middle East." ^[7]

The fund has been accused of funding extremist organisations operating in the occupied territories. Investigative reporter Philip Weiss, on his Mondoweiss website, reported payments from the fund to the Od Yosef Chai yeshiva. 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."^{[7][8][9][10]} The fund also supports Women in Green and Honenu, an organization which provides legal defense for Israelis accused of crimes against Arabs or the Israeli security forces.^[11][2][12] Financial links between the fund and Im Tirtzu, for whom it is the main channel for donations, have been highlighted by a number of news reports and commentators. Im Tirtzu's website requests for donations to be sent through the fund.^[13]

References

External links

• Update on the investigative report on the Central Israel Fund by the Mondoweiss website.
• Published letter to the New York Times from the Central Fund of Israel directer, Jay Marcus, in response to critical article (July 8, 2010)
• IPS report including investigation into funding and donations of the Central Fund of Israel