Peace Now and Tax Fraud

Friend Robert wrote the following. You can read the entire story on JoeSettler.

What a shock. Neither the Hebrew nor the English online editions of Haaretz make any mention of the huge scandal that has led to the closure of Sha'al Mifalim Chinuchi'im, the amuta that was established by Shalom Achshav's leadership on June 30, 1982, in order to defraud the gov't of tax money the organization should have paid as a political organization. Worse yet, the deception forced the government to reimburse Israeli donors 30% of the amount donated, as per the laws of recognized, legal non-profit organizations. Beyond the financial aspects, the illegal amuta allowed the movement to avoid prosecution, as Shalom Achshav is technically not in and of itself a legal entity.

Well, one thing is for sure. Shalom Achshav has redefined the word "hypocrisy". They constantly cry foul at any minor procedural irregularity involved in establishing Yesha communities, and yet they themselves have lived in perpetual legal sin for the past quarter of a century.

I think the next step is to bring a class action suit against the leadership of Sha'al, as our tax money was used to foot the bill for their donors getting tax refunds.

Oh, and there really ought to be some bumper stickers and posters with slogans such as "Tzviut Achshav" and "Af Amutat Sha'al Echad".

BTW, I suspect the reason they chose an amuta name that hints to an idea that goes against their politicals is that it makes it nigh impossible to search for, even via the internet, the reason being that hundreds if not thousands of amutot include the phrase "Sh'al y'dei makom ploni", probably in order to make it clear who and where the amuta is. When you go to the official Shalom Achshav website, the only hint to the affiliation is the "trumot" page, which asks that funds be directed to the "sha'al account". So much for the "transparency" the SA leadership is claiming now.

Robert



Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael טובה הארץ מאד מאד