The Jewish National Fund (JNF) is chartered since 1901 as an apartheid institution and an organ of the State of Isael since 1952. It is responsible for dispossessing Palestinians of their land and properties, as well as transforming the environment of Palestine into a Jewish settler colony. Although conducting the serious crimes of apartheid and population transfer since its inception, JNF operates under tax exemption in some 50 countries as a `charitable` organization.
Under pressure from Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) and others the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) instigated an audit of the JNF in 2018. JNF Canada was eventually forced to differentiate itself from its parent organization in Israel and to stop “co-mingling” its funds with that organization. JNF Canada was also instructed to stop assisting projects in the illegally occupied West Bank and initiatives supporting the Israeli military. But, apparently it failed to fulfill the Revenue Agency’s requests and now the CRA has rescinded its ability to grant donors tax credits.--Ed.
CRA notifies Jewish National Fund it will revoke Canadian charitable status
The group announced its intention to appeal, claiming the Canada Revenue Agency changed the rules for charitable donations long after the organization`s work had been approved
25 July 2024
The Canada Revenue Agency headquarters in Ottawa. PHOTO BY ADRIAN WYLD/THE CANADIAN PRESS
The Canada Revenue Agency has notified the century-old Jewish National Fund that it plans to revoke the group’s charitable status in Canada over support for military infrastructure in Israel, a decision the JNF says it will challenge in the courts.
The JNF claims the CRA changed the rules for charitable donations, long after the organization’s work had been approved.
“Our position is that it is unjust for CRA to revoke a charity because a charitable object that it accepted almost 60 years ago is now no longer considered to be a valid charitable object,” JNF Canada’s national president Nathan Disenhouse wrote in a public statement released Thursday afternoon. “It is simply unjust to close a charity supported by over 100,000 Canadians based on reversing a decision the CRA made in 1967.”
JNF CEO Lance Davis directed the Post to the organization’s public statement and contemporaneous newsletter to its supporters.
“Unfortunately, our overtures to have a dialogue in order to negotiate an agreement were rejected — CRA officials refused to meet in person with JNF Canada officials throughout this ordeal — and the CRA confirmed its intention to revoke on June 26th,” the letter, co-authored by Disenhouse and Davis, reads.
They added that their appeal intends to show the CRA’s findings are flawed, that the federal body’s procedures are unfair and that there “is a reasonable apprehension of bias in the audit.”
The CRA would not discuss the case when contacted by National Post.
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“The CRA assesses all concerns about registered charities against a clear regulatory and risk framework designed to prevent bias in our decision-making process,” spokesperson Nina Ioussoupova said in an email. “The CRA does not comment on the specific details of court cases to respect the confidentiality provisions of the Acts we administer.”
JNF had an earlier run-in with the CRA following a financial audit showing that donations from the organization were used to build military infrastructure for the Israel Defence Forces (IDF). The CRA said the move ran afoul of Canada’s Tax Code concerning supporting foreign militaries.
The CRA has cracked down on other Canadian Jewish charities in recent years, citing similar concerns. In 2019, Beth Oloth Charitable Organization had its charitable status removed for distributing funds aiding the Israeli military.
“Canadian charities are not allowed to fund foreign militaries,” Mark Blumberg, an attorney specializing in Canadian charity law, told the Post by email. “Clearly, there were previously some compliance issues,” said Blumberg, creator of CharityData.ca, the largest national database of Canadian registered charities. He cautioned that it is difficult to draw conclusions from JNF’s announcement “without reviewing the letters from (the) CRA combined with the letters from the charity to CRA.”
Disenhouse said that JNF Canada remains committed to addressing the CRA’s earlier concerns and has strived to avoid a revocation of its charitable status.
“Similar to other charities that support the needs of children, workers, and vulnerable communities we would expect CRA to work with, not against, our charity,” Disenhouse said.
In a statement on Thursday, Shimon Koffler Fogel, CEO of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, said his group “is supportive of JNF.”
“CIJA remains hopeful that JNF and CRA will ultimately identify a constructive resolution, permitting JNF to continue its important work ranging from relief from poverty to environmental reclamation,” he said.
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Photo: Sign for the Jewish National Fund defaced to protest the Israeli occupation of Palestine, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on 9 October 2008. Source: reagtive Touch Imaging, Ltd./Nurphoto via Getty.
