WASHINGTON – US charity groups have used tax-exempt donations to help establish Jewish settlements in Israeli-occupied West Bank, the New York Times reported Tuesday.
As Washington sought to end a four-decade Jewish settlement enterprise and foster a Palestinian state in the West Bank, the US Treasury helped sustain settlements through tax breaks on donations, the report said.
A New York Times examination of public records in the United States and Israel identified at least 40 American groups that have collected more than 200 million dollars in tax-deductible gifts for Jewish settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem over the last decade.
The money went mostly to schools, synagogues, recreation centers and the like — legitimate expenditures under the tax law.
But it has also paid for housing as well as guard dogs, bulletproof vests, rifle scopes and vehicles to secure outposts deep in occupied areas, the Times reported.
The controversy over the settlements is expected to top the agenda of talks between US President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House Tuesday.
Pro-settler groups have stepped up pressure on Netanyahu not to cave in during the talks to demands that he extend a partial freeze on settlement construction in the West Bank.
Although Americans also get tax breaks for donations to pro-Palestinian groups, those to the settler movement stood out because it a key issue in current Middle East peace talks.
Washington has refused to allow Israel to spend American government aid in the settlements.
