LONDON: Thirty-two charities in England and Wales have donated at least $37 million to illegal Israeli settlements, an MP with the governing Labour Party has said.
Melanie Ward warned that if gift aid were claimed against the donations as part of the regular UK tax relief scheme, it would mean that British taxpayers had subsidized illegal settlements, The Guardian reported on Wednesday.
Under the charity tax relief scheme, about $7.5 million toward illegal Israeli settlements could have been provided by taxpayers through the charities, a situation Ward described as “deplorable.”
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper on Tuesday said the Charity Commission had been ordered to investigate British charities’ ties to settlements.
The commission must take action and remove any charitable ties to settlements, Ward, former CEO of Medical Aid for Palestinians, wrote in a letter to the body.
