J Street: Probe settlement funders

WASHINGTON (JTA) – J Street has called for an investigation into American charities that fund Israeli settlement activity.

J Street, the self-proclaimed political home for “pro- Israel, pro-peace Americans,” called on the U.S. Treasury Department to look into whether organizations named in a July 6 New York Times report have broken the law. The report identified more than 40 U.S. organizations that have collected more than $200 million in taxdeductible gifts for schools, synagogues and recreation centers in the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem.

The groups support Jewish settlements in the West Bank and receive tax breaks from the U.S. Treasury. Some are seen as illegal by the Israeli government.

“Ongoing settlement construction is diminishing the chances of a two-state solution and endangering Israel’s very future as a Jewish, democratic home,” J Street director Jeremy Ben-Ami said in a statement.

The New York Times report revealed a connection between one of the organizations and Kahane Chai, a banned Israeli political party that was deemed a terrorist organization by the United States in 1994.