The Jewish National Fund – is it really for the public good?
A report last month shows that a British Charity, the JNF, has behaved in an improper way. The Charity Commission has a record of going to extraordinary lengths to keep the JNF UK a listed charity. Its response to the latest scandal will need to be seen in the light of its previous rulings.
Last year a Palestinian family complained that the JNF had built the British Park on their land. The Charity Commission ruled that the family had no standing to complain.
Statements like “The JNF is not the trustee of the general public in Israel. Its loyalty is given to the Jewish people in the Diaspora and in the state of Israel… The JNF, in relation to being an owner of land, is not a public body that works for the benefit of all citizens of the state. The loyalty of the JNF is given to the Jewish people and only to them is the JNF obligated. The JNF, as the owner of the JNF land, does not have a duty to practice equality towards all citizens of the state.” by the JNF in Israel were not regarded as evidence of racism by the Charity Commission.
“Unfortunately, over the last two decades KKL-JNF has also been amassing property seized from Palestinians in East Jerusalem, evicting families, and turning the property over to a settler organization with the express goal of Judaizing Palestinian neighborhoods.”
This evidence of complicity in ethnic cleanisng is also ignored by the Charity Commission.
The 2014 JNF annual report stated it gave £114,000 to the “Gaza War Effort”. A war that killed 1462 Palestinian civilians. The Charity Commission either closed its eyes or deemed it for the public good.
The latest scandal involves a will by a very frail old man. The Funding Regulator investigated the writing of a will by the KKL a subsidiary of the JNF UK.
The wife, through her solicitors, claimed that the will was invalid on the “grounds of the testator’s lack of capacity, want of knowledge, approval and undue influence.”
She also complained that the “charity failed to manage a conflict of interests, to keep proper records and to maintain proper oversight of the activities of their subsidiary”.
The 2016 will left the wife £500,000 with the bulk of the nearly £20 million going in trust to the JNF.
“Witness B stated that the testator was not a practising Jew and they had never “showed any interest in Judaism or Jewish charities”.
The Fundraising regulator ruled:
“given the closeness of the two organisations, and the fact that KKL clearly work to promote and fundraise for JNF. This is a clear breach of Section 18.3.3(b) of the code.”
We in Stop the JNF want
honest reporting by the media
The JNF to be stripped of its Charitable status
In the event that the Charity Commission continues its dereliction of its statutory duty, we urge everyone to join the stop the JNF Campaign.