Israel provides benefits worth hundreds of millions of shekels to organizations such as UNRWA, Diakonia and the Mononiti Center Committee • Lavi: Hostile organizations that have lost their VAT exemption continue to receive benefits from the Treasury
UNRWA employee in Gaza
Photography:
IPI
The state refuses to provide information about benefits amounting to hundreds of millions of shekels to UNRWA and other international organizations, some of which are hostile to the State of Israel, according to a document from the Tax Authority obtained by Israel Today. A petition will soon be filed in the Jerusalem Administrative Court.
In the "Lavi" organization, they first turned to the Ministries of Defense and Finance, which have the authority of their managers to decide which organizations will receive the desired exemption - but they referred Lavi to the tax authority.
The Tax Authority was asked to provide the following details: the names of the organizations that benefit from the exemption, the amount of the exemption and the criteria on the basis of which it is decided whether to grant or deny the grant to the organizations.
The PA responded in the negative: "We reject your request in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act, which stipulates that a public authority will not provide information that discloses a risk of harm to state security, its foreign relations, public safety or the safety or well-being of a person."
These organizations benefit from a tens of percent discount on the purchase of fuels through the payment of zero VAT and the receipt of an exemption from excise duty - based on a temporary provision whose original purpose is to facilitate aid organizations operating in Judea and Samaria and the Gaza Strip.
Last June, the Knesset Finance Committee held a heated debate on the issue, during which it was alleged that the representative of the Coordinator of Government Operations in the Occupied Territories (IDF) presented partial information, and that in practice it is not only organizations that are part of the UN apparatus, but some international organizations. From working against Israel.
UNRWA, the Palestinian refugee aid organization, for example, employs many Hamas members, and about two years ago the Trump administration announced the denial of aid to the organization because it is "fundamentally flawed and perpetuates the refugee problem."
At least two of the other organizations for which Knesset members have been asked to approve a tax exemption on fuels - Diaconia and the Mononiti Center Committee - are known to be involved in aggressive anti-Israel activities.
"These are two church organizations that come with a very extreme ideological-theological charge against the State of Israel," reads an analysis by the NGO Monitor Research Institute.
According to NGO Monitor, Diakonia, a church aid organization funded by the Swedish government, defines itself as a partner in the antisemitic organizations "Badil" and "Sabil" and "Al-Haq", which is leading a campaign to prosecute senior Israeli officials in the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
Diakonia also collaborates with al-Mizan, which has alleged links to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
Diakonia also funds, among others, the Israeli organization "Who Gains" which serves as a local arm of the antisemitic boycott movement (BDS), as well as the far-left organizations B'Tselem and Adalah.
The Swedish ecclesiastical organization, which is asking the State of Israel for a discount on fuel, is also behind the EAPPI program, which aims to harass IDF forces in Judea and Samaria through foreign anti-Israel activists who, after returning to their countries, promote BDS campaigns.
The Manoniti Center Committee also cooperates with organizations linked to the Popular Front, in a campaign accusing Israel of abusing Palestinian children.
The committee funds the extremist Israeli organization "Zochrot", which works to dismantle the State of Israel and implement the right of return, and in the past donated money to the "New Profile" organization, which engraves an evasion of the army on its banner.
As stated, Balbi will soon file a petition in court.
Lavi said: "We are convinced that the refusal of the authorities to provide the information regarding the tax benefits provided to the international organizations will not pass the legal review in the petition we are filing against this decision."
