Amnesty International may lose tax benefits in "Israel"
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The tax authorities are looking into whether an Israeli branch of an organization is breaking anti-BDS regulations.
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Amnesty International activists join a vigil for a Middle East cease-fire in front of the State Department in Washington. (AP)
Israeli media reports that the Tax Authority has begun an inquiry that might result in the denial of tax advantages for donations to the Israeli chapter of the human rights organization Amnesty International since the organization violates anti-BDS regulations.
According to the Boycott Law, the Finance Minister may, in coordination with the occupation Justice Minister and with the agreement of the occupation Knesset Constitutional Committee, refuse tax advantages to organizations that publicly call for a boycott of "Israel."
Sources who have seen the Tax Authority letter say the authority has concluded that the Israeli branch of Amnesty International and the global organization, which encourages and legitimizes boycotts against "Israel" in its reports and references to BDS organizations and movements around the world, cannot be separated.
The same sources detailed that the Tax Authority submitted a number of complaints against the Amnesty organization based on publications and public information indicating that it has advocated for a boycott of the Israeli occupation.
In 2022, Amnesty released a damning report that presents a detailed investigation into how "Israel" maintains a system of apartheid against Palestinians, describing the theft of Palestinian land, unlawful murder, restriction of mobility, and other elements that makeup apartheid.
Read more: US rejects Amnesty International report accusing "Israel" of Apartheid
In a 2022 assessment, the foreign ministry decided that Amnesty International had become a "central generator of delegitimization in the apartheid discourse that is conducted against the State of Israel."
In the report, the organization led by Secretary-General Agnès Callamard uses its image as a human rights organization to "serve as a locomotive for accusing Israel of being an apartheid state and be a 'source of authority' for establishment parties, political parties and boycott and delegitimization organizations."
