Thirty-two charities in England and Wales have donated at least £28 million to Israeli settlements that are illegal under international law, according to Labour MP Melanie Ward. She has called on the Charity Commission to investigate these organisations and remove them from the charity register.
Ward, formerly chief executive of Medical Aid for Palestinians, stated that if gift aid was claimed on these donations, UK taxpayers would have subsidised illegal settlements by £5.6 million, a situation she described as deplorable. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper announced on Tuesday that the Charity Commission has been tasked with investigating UK charities' links to settlements.
In a letter to the commission, Ward wrote: "The existence and growth of Israeli settlements in the state of Palestine is globally recognised as one of the major impediments to peace. Any activity which supports the maintenance and the expansion of Israeli settlements – such as that funded by these 32 'charities' – is extremist and not of benefit to the UK public. Further, it risks being materially and financially used in pursuance of breaches of international law."
Among the charities named are the Kasner Charitable Trust (KCT) and UK Toremet, which together donated about £5.7 million to the Bnei Akiva Yeshiva high school in Susya, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Ward's research, based on documents in English and Hebrew, found that Kasner also donated to a yeshiva in Hebron, while UK Toremet gave £38,479 in 2022 to Regavim, an extremist pro-settler group that supports the destruction of Palestinian homes and is sanctioned by the EU.
Through the Jgive platform, which UK Toremet uses to process UK currency donations, people can donate to Regavim and other pro-settler groups, including Shivat Zion Lerigvy Admata, which the UK announced sanctions against on Tuesday.
A UK Toremet spokesperson said the Charity Commission had found it compliant with the law, and that it only processed Jgive payments after due diligence and for projects compliant with charitable purposes. The spokesperson added that Shivat Zion Lerigvy Admata was not an approved recipient under its grant-making framework, and that the donation to Regavim was for a project within Israel's pre-1967 borders and is no longer an approved recipient. KCT previously said its donations were for educational purposes and cleared by the commission.
Ward argued that funding illegal settlements is not charitable and violates UK and international law, a position "taken by the United Nations, successive UK governments, the international court of justice, and an issue that is subject to an international criminal court investigation on the grounds of war crimes."
Yaser Alkam, a Palestinian-American from the West Bank village of Turmus Ayya who was attacked by settlers while harvesting olives, said: "Donating to these outposts and to these settlements is directly affecting Palestinians, the owners of the land in these areas. You're providing the means for these crimes to continue and to flourish."
A Charity Commission spokesperson said it was carefully considering the "serious matters" raised by Ward, adding: "As we have previously confirmed, we are actively considering the wider legal and compliance issues relating to charities operating in Palestine. We know this is a complex and highly contentious issue and so it is right that we take the time needed to consider these matters fully."
