TEL AVIV: The Associated Press and Israeli investigative platform Shomrim have discovered that an Israeli organization that raises money for Jewish extremists convicted of some of the country's most infamous hate crimes is accepting tax-free contributions from Americans.

The evidence in this case suggests that Israel's far right is increasing its presence in the United States.

It is not known how much money was raised by an American non-profit. However, the AP and Shomrim have documented a money trail from New Jersey to jailed Israeli radicals, including those responsible for the murder of Palestinians and the assassin of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.

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With this international fundraising arrangement, Americans can donate to the Israeli organization Shalom Assyraich with a credit card and receive a tax deduction by doing so through an American nonprofit.

Through US-based arms, many Israeli causes raise money, including hospitals, universities and charities. But having a group that supports Jewish fundamentalists adopt the tactic raises ethical and legal concerns.

In Israel, where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu leads a new far-right government, ultranationalists and extremist lawmakers have risen to unprecedented levels of power.

Yigal Amir, who killed Rabin in 2005, Amiram Ben-Uleil, who was convicted of setting fire to a Palestinian child and her parents in 2015, and Yosef Chaim Ben David, who was sentenced to 16 years of kidnapping and murder. The elderly Palestinian boy in Jerusalem in 2014 is among the beneficiaries of Shalom Assyraik, according to the organization's promotional materials. The organization also supports a violent ultra-Orthodox man who killed a 16-year-old Israeli girl at Jerusalem's gay pride parade in 2015.

Shalom Asireich, or "The Well-Being of Your Prisoners", has been raising money in Israel since at least 2018, and a group made up mainly of Israelis from hard-line West Bank settlements officially launched it in 2020. Registered as a non-profit organization.

Israeli authorities have questioned at least five of the group's seven founders for crimes related to their actions against Palestinians. Some people have been detained and challaned.

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Recipients of its generosity have praised the organization for its fortitude during difficult times.

"You have no idea how much you help us," the family of Ben-Uliel, who is currently serving three life sentences, wrote in a handwritten letter that was posted on the organization's Facebook page.

Shalom Assyraich's official presentation to Israel's nonprofit registry contains little information because it is a youth organization, and does not state how much money it has raised.

However, the group recently claimed in promotional fliers broadcast by Israeli Channel 13 news that it had raised 150,000 shekels (about $43,000).

Israeli nonprofits have long sought funding abroad, with the United States being an important source. Jewish-American nonprofits gave $2 billion annually to Israel between 2018 and 2020, according to data published by Noga Zivan, a consultant for Israeli nonprofits.

In the US, right-wing Israeli organizations have long raised funds. However, Dvir Kariv, a former employee of the Shin Bet division of Israel's domestic security agency, claimed that this is unusual for extremists.

According to Kariv, the group learned from other far-right Israeli organizations, notably Kach, an anti-Arab racist group that was once outlawed as a terrorist organization in the United States, but Kariv claimed. Did that he was skilled in raising money there. decades ago.

Itamar Ben-Gvir, a senior cabinet minister in Israel's new far-right government, is a student of Kach's founder, Rabbi Meir Kahane, who was previously banned from participating in Israeli politics.

The World of Tzedka non-profit organization, based in New Jersey, claims to "help enable any individual or organization to raise money for their specific cause," but it is unclear when Shlom Aseireich joined there. started working

Donors from the United States can access the Shlom Assyriech website and click on the link to the Tzedaka of the World donation page. Direct donations can also be made from the World of Tzedka website.

Fundraisers must include a rabbi as a reference and receive approval from the Lakewood Religious Committee, according to an instructional video on the World of Tzedaka website. According to the website, World of Tzedka charges $28 per month plus a 3% processing fee for money transfers to Israeli bank accounts.

According to its website, World of Tzedka supports various charitable efforts, most of which are committed to helping Jewish families in need.

Those who have been convicted of crimes and their families may be deemed to be in need and thus qualify as a permissible charitable purpose, according to Ellen Aprill, a tax and charity expert at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.

Supporting a terrorist could be viewed as encouraging criminal activity, but that would need to be demonstrated, she said. Marcus Owens, an attorney who oversaw the IRS' nonprofit division in the 1990s, adopted a stricter approach. 

According to him, "the U.S. Department of Justice considers assistance to terrorists' families to be a form of material support for terrorism." 

An organisation must only function for charitable, religious, or educational purposes in order to be recognised by the IRS as a tax-exempt organisation.

It was unsuccessful each time to get in touch with Shlom Asiraich's representatives. An AP reporter's call was disconnected by the person who answered the group's phone number. The group's contact information is Moshe Orbach, whose residence is in the strict West Bank settlement of Yitzhar.

When contacted for comment, a World of Tzedaka representative hung up. The IRS refused to respond to inquiries regarding the organisation, claiming that "federal law forbids the IRS from commenting." 

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Chanamel Dorfman, an attorney and key aide to Ben-Gvir, Israel's new minister of national security, registered Shlom Asiraich with Israeli authorities as a nonprofit organisation, according to documents obtained by the AP. On Guidestar, the website of the official nonprofit registry, Dorfman is additionally listed as the organization's "lawyer/legal adviser."

Dorfman vehemently denied ever serving as the group's legal counsel in a text message and remained silent when pressed further. According to Dorfman, who recently told the right-leaning newspaper Israel Hayom that he was simply practising law, "if I knew that this is what this organisation does, I wouldn't have registered it."

Shlom Asiraich tweeted a picture of the snacks it gave to Jewish suspects under house arrest and to the families of Israelis who had been found guilty or charged with crimes against Palestinians in October, on the eve of the Jewish New Year. The men were referred to as "beloved heroes" in the note that came with the wine and other supplies the nonprofit provided