Yet another UK charity has been caught funding Israel’s military

The International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) has filed a formal complaint and request for investigation with the Charity Commission concerning the activities of JNF Charitable Trust in the UK (JNF UK).

JNF UK: funding Israel’s apartheid

JNF UK’s financial statements from 2007-2023 reveal that it has been funding programmes with direct links to Israel’s military.

In total, JNF UK transmitted £3,333,000 to ‘beneficiary organisations’ in Israel from 2007-2023.

The organisation has been found to routinely raise funds for three key types of ‘beneficiary organisations’:

• Pre- and post-military programmes with direct ties to the Israeli military and government.
• Armed groups with connections to the Israeli military, perpetrating and supporting violence in the West Bank.
• Housing and recreational facilities for serving Israeli soldiers.

Under Section 3 of the Charities Act 2011, UK-registered charities can raise funds for the “promotion of the efficiency of the armed forces of the Crown”, but the Charity Commission has confirmed that “providing aid or military supplies to any foreign armed force is not a charitable purpose, and no charity can legally undertake such activity.”

ICJP has pursued several channels to hold JNF UK accountable for their activities contravening their charitable status in recent months. In August 2024, ICJP wrote to the Attorney General, calling on him to use his powers to revoke its charitable status. In October 2024, ICJP called on the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) to investigate potential breaches of UK sanctions by JNF UK and other groups.

ICJP also submitted evidence about JNF UK in November 2024 to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories ahead of a report to the UN Human Rights Council on how the private sector has contributed to establishing and maintaining Israel’s presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Getting away with it for too long

JNF UK is a partner of Israel-based Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael Jewish National Fund (JNF-KKL), founded in 1901. JNF-KKL has been involved in historic and present-day property theft in the oPt, ongoing displacement of Palestinians and destruction of the natural environment.

The move comes following a precedent established in Canada with regards to JNF UK’s sister organisation JNF Canada. On the 25th July 2024, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) notified JNF Canada that its support of military infrastructure in Israel meant that it would lose its charitable status. A financial audit by the CRA found that donations had been used to help fund military infrastructure projects for the Israeli army, in violation of Canada’s Tax Code. JNF Canada was ordered to wind up operations on the 10th November 2024.

A legal spokesperson from ICJP said:

For too long, JNF UK has been allowed to fund illegal Israeli settlements and the Israeli military. We’re looking at sixteen years of records here, which shows one thing: if no one holds them to account, they’re going to keep doing it.

It’s bad enough that this organisation is allowed to continue operating, but it is absurd that they receive tax exemptions from the British government through their charitable status to do so.

Featured image via the Canary