Extreme Israeli group planted in US with fundraising bid

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An Israeli group raising funds for Israeli extremists convicted of some of the most notorious hate crimes in occupied Palestine is accepting tax-exempt donations from Americans, according to the Associated Press and Israeli investigative platform "Shomrim".

Records in the case suggest that the Israeli extremists are gaining a new foothold in the United States.

Who is 'Shlom Asiraich'? 

It also comes against the backdrop of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's new Israeli far-right government, where ultranationalists and extremist lawmakers have gained unprecedented power, according to AP. 

Since 2018, "Shlom Asiraich", or "The Well-Being of your Prisoners," has been raising money in "Israel" and officially registered as a nonprofit in 2020 by a group mostly made up of Israelis from settlements in the occupied West Bank. At least five of the group's seven founders have been detained for crimes related to their anti-Palestinian activities. 

Its beneficiaries include Yigal Amir, who assassinated former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1995; Amiram Ben-Uliel, who was convicted in the 2015 arson killing of a Palestinian baby and his parents; and Yosef Chaim Ben David, who was convicted of abducting and killing a 16-year-old Palestinian boy in Al-Quds in 2014, according to Shlom Asiraich's promotional materials.

Who is the major funder? 

The amount of money raised by a nonprofit organization in the United States is unknown. However, the Associated Press and "Shomrim" have traced money from New Jersey to imprisoned Israelis, including former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's killer and settlers convicted in deadly attacks on Palestinians.

This international fundraising arrangement has made it easier for the Israeli extremist organization, "Shlom Asiraich" to collect funds from Americans who can make contributions with a credit card through the US nonprofit and claim a tax deduction.

Many so-called Israeli causes, from hospitals to universities, raise funds through arms based in the United States. However, the strategy being used by a group assisting extremist Zionists raises legal concerns for the US.

Read next: Zionist group uses US anti-terrorism laws to sue Palestinian activists

"Shlom Asiraich's" official filing to the Israeli nonprofit registry provides little information and does not indicate how much money it has raised. However, according to promotional flyers recently broadcast by Israeli Channel 13 news, the organization has raised 150,000 shekels (approximately $43,000).

Nonprofits in "Israel" have long sought funding from abroad, with the United States being a major source. According to figures published by Noga Zivan, a consultant for nonprofits in "Israel", between 2018 to 2020, Jewish-American organizations alone donated $2 billion to "Israel" each year.

Israeli right-wing groups have long raised funds in the US, but Dvir Kariv, a former official in the department of the Israeli domestic security agency "Shin Bet", which deals with Israeli violence, said it is unusual for Zionists such as the ones who run "Shlom Asiraich" to do so.

He explained that the group appears to have been cued from other far-right Israeli groups, particularly Kach, an anti-Arab racist group that was once banned as a terror organization in the United States but was adept at raising funds there decades ago, according to Kariv.

It is not a coincidence that Itamar Ben-Gvir, a senior Cabinet minister in the new Israeli government, is a disciple of Kach’s founder, Rabbi Meir Kahane, who was once banned from Israeli politics.

'Shlom Asiraich' denied representation 

An organization must operate solely for charitable, religious, or educational purposes in order to be recognized by the IRS as a tax-exempt organization. There were repeated unsuccessful attempts by AP to reach representatives of "Shlom Asiraich".

Chanamel Dorfman, an attorney and key aide to Ben-Gvir, the new Israeli Police Minister, registered "Shlom Asiraich" with Israeli authorities as a nonprofit organization, according to documents obtained by AP.

Moreover, Dorfman is also listed as the group’s “lawyer/legal advisor” on Guidestar, the official nonprofit registry’s site.

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