UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese joined human rights organizations earlier this month to release a report that urged the Canadian government to suspend and investigate any charities found to be “aiding and abetting” Israeli war crimes in occupied Palestine.
Speakers at the November 8 press conference in Toronto explained that the report, which was jointly released by Just Peace Advocates (JPA) and Independent Jewish Voices Canada (IJV), highlights how charitable donations have been directed toward activities that the report argues are grounds for “immediate suspension and investigation.”
Registered charities in Canada can issue official donation receipts that qualify for charitable tax credits.
“Canada is violating its international obligations,” said Albanese at the press conference. “This is not about ethical principles, not about rhetoric. This is about binding obligations.”
“Canada is providing an opportunity for us to reflect and to move to concrete actions. These charities have to stop working from here.”
Albanese reminded attendees that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled in January that it is “plausible” that Palestinians in Gaza have rights under the Genocide Convention that are at risk of being violated, including the right to “be protected from acts of genocide.”
In 1967, following the Six-Day War between Israel and neighbouring Arab countries, Israel occupied Palestinian territories, including the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem. The ICJ ruled in July that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories is illegal and must end “as rapidly as possible.”
Canadian policy, meanwhile, officially states that Canada “does not recognize permanent Israeli control over territories occupied in 1967.”
Albanese said Canada should have already suspended its relations with Israel because “the settlements constitute a war crime and a crime against humanity.”
She called on the Canadian government to impose sanctions on Israel and to intensify its efforts in pressuring Israel to halt its actions in Gaza.
During her recent speaking tour of eastern Canada, Albanese said she was “snubbed” by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly, noting that pro-Israel lobby groups mounted a pressure campaign opposing her visit.
Khaled Mouammar, the Palestinian-Canadian founder of the Canadian Arab Federation, said at the press conference:
“We have over the last two years submitted many complaints to the Canada Revenue Agency, requesting investigations of several registered charities for funding the Israeli government, its illegal settlements and its military in violation of the Income Tax Act, official Canadian policy and international law.”
Recently, the Jewish National Fund, one of Canada’s oldest and most well known Zionist charities, had its bid to overturn the CRA’s revocation of its charitable status dismissed by the Federal Court of Canada.
The charity, which was found to have violated the Income Tax Act, was ordered to disband and dispose of its assets by November 13. In August, the CRA revoked the charitable status of the Ne’eman Foundation, which supported Israeli military activities and organizations based in illegal settlements.
The IJV and JPA report authors welcomed those decisions, but said much more needs to be done in order to address “the wider, systemic, complicity in Israel’s internationally illegal activities within the Canadian charitable sector.”
The report explained that the CRA and common law state that Canadian charities must not contravene Canadian public policy, and emphasized that Canadian policy does not recognize permanent Israeli control over the territories that Israel occupied in 1967.
“Any activity that furthers permanency of Israeli control over illegally occupied territory is not charitable,” the report stated. “Rather, it is financial complicity in aiding and abetting war crimes, masquerading as charity.”
The report “calls on the Canadian government to immediately suspend the licences of numerous Canadian charities found to be aiding and abetting war crimes and crimes against humanity in Israel and occupied Palestine, pending in-depth audits of their activities.”
“Furthermore, we urge the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to investigate these crimes and prosecute complicit Canadian charities under the Criminal Code,” the report continued.
The report highlighted five registered Canadian charities “for immediate suspension and investigation.”
The Mizrachi Organization of Canada
The IJV/JPA report described the Mizrachi Organization of Canada as a “major financial conduit for far-right Religious Zionist movements supporting settler violence and military assistance.”
The organization explains on its website that it sees “great importance in investing in the Israeli economy, and in being an active partner in the spiritual revolution taking place in our homeland.”
According to the report, Mizrachi operates as an “illegal conduit” for the Israeli website jgive.org.
In 2022, Mizrachi listed numerous Israeli intermediaries that the report described as “operating within the illegal settlements,” as well as Israeli recipients that are “actively working to displace Palestinians and seize their sovereign territory,” and others that provide “financial and material support to the Israeli military.”
At the press conference, Miles Howe, a professor of criminology at Brock University and a co-author of the report, said: “Mizrachi, between 2007 and 2021, did not even name its Israeli intermediaries and simply moved over $40 million in Canadian subsidized donations to the country code Israel, so that money could have gone anywhere.”
The Maple independently reviewed Mizrachi’s 2022 CRA filings, and confirmed that the pro-settler charities Regavim and Women In Green were both listed as Israeli recipients of fund transfers, along with the right-wing organization Im Tirtzu, the Duvdevan Foundation, which supports members of the Duvdevan Unit in the Israeli military, and Ir David.
The Maple emailed the Mizrachi Organization of Canada multiple times for comment about the IJV/JPA report’s findings, but did not receive any response.
Jewish Heritage Foundation of Canada
The report stated that the Jewish Heritage Foundation of Canada (JHFC) appears to be a “burner charity,” and that despite registering as a charity in 1976, it engaged in little to no charitable work for decades.
By 2023, the organization claimed it distributed over $94 million in charitable programming to hundreds of international intermediaries, according to the report.
“There are serious doubts as to whether an organisation which spent under $25,000 in professional fees in 2023 could possibly have any direction or control” over those funds, the report explained, adding: “Between 2020-2022, JHFC moved hundreds of thousands of dollars to Israeli recipients within the illegal settlements.”
The Maple was unable to locate any website or contact information for JHFC.
The Ronnen Harary Foundation
Ronnen Harary is the co-founder of the children’s entertainment company Spin Master and is recognized for creating the popular children’s TV show “Paw Patrol.”
The Ronnen Harary Foundation registered as a charity in 2021, and working in association with a sister foundation, is linked to millions of dollars in donations to the Jerusalem Municipality, according to the IJV/JPA report.
CRA filings reviewed by The Maple show that the foundation describes its “ongoing activities” as: “To fund projects to protect and preserve significant heritage sites in Jerusalem by restoring, developing, and maintaining green spaces open to the general public.”
Under “new activities,” the foundation states that it works to “advance education by providing publicly available scholarships, bursaries, and other forms of financial assistance to youth and young adults to be used for post-secondary education.”
CRA filings reviewed by The Maple show that in 2023, the foundation transferred $991,861 to the Jerusalem Municipality, and declared a total of $1,011,857 in charitable programs for the same year. In 2022, it transferred $1.44 million to the Jerusalem Municipality, accounting for almost all of its total expenditures on charitable activities.
Howe said that no foreign government is considered a qualified recipient of Canadian charitable donations, and that, “the Jerusalem Municipality itself is particularly problematic given that its municipal borders have swallowed up annexed East Jerusalem and portions of the occupied West Bank.”
The Maple contacted Harary via Spin Master. The Maple then received an email from Jasmine Lagundzija, a senior consultant with the public affairs agency Crestview Strategy, with a statement attributed to Harary. The statement read:
“As a proud member of the Jewish community, I have used my own personal resources to support those impacted by the terrorist attack in Israel and the ensuing conflict. In addition to my own personal donations, The Ronnen Harary Foundation has also helped to support those impacted by the conflict.”
The statement continued:
“The Ronnen Harary Foundation has supported a number of philanthropic causes, including efforts to improve the lives of children and families primarily in Israel and Canada. Today, the Foundation’s work is primarily focused on advancing education through scholarships and bursaries for children with learning disabilities and restoring and maintaining public green spaces in Jerusalem. More recently, the Foundation has supported on the ground humanitarian relief efforts helping to fund new beds at the Hadassah hospital in Israel, as well as the construction of a new park in East Jerusalem, which is host to local Palestinian children, giving them an opportunity to find joy in play.”
HESEG Foundation
The HESEG Foundation was founded in 2005 by Heather Reisman and Gerry Schwartz. Reisman is the founder of Indigo Books & Music Inc., and Schwartz, her husband, is the founder of Onex Corporation, a private equity firm.
The HESEG Foundation is “almost singularly funded by The Gerald Schwartz and Heather Reisman Foundation,” aside from initial start-up cash it received in 2007, according to the IJV/JPA report.
CRA filings reviewed by The Maple show that the Gerald Schwartz and Heather Reisman Foundation provided $5.65 million to HESEG in the reporting period ending July 31, 2023. HESEG declared $5.6 million in expenditures on charitable programs in the same reporting period.
HESEG provides post-secondary scholarships to so-called “Lone Soldiers” — individuals who have no family in Israel but enlist to serve in Israel’s military. In a previous audit of another charity, the CRA “made clear” that Israel’s “Lone Soldier” assistance programs are not considered charitable activity in Canada, according to the IJV/JPA report.
According to the report, HESEG Foundation’s board has included “a handful of top former Israeli military officials.”
The Maple emailed HESEG and attempted to contact Reisman via Indigo’s company email, but did not receive any response.
Canada Charity Partners
Canada Charity Partners (CCP) is a Canadian-based organization which, the IJV/JPA report alleged, operates “as an illegal tax receipt-issuing conduit for the Israeli non-profit website israelgives.org.”
“In this capacity, it provides Canadian charitable donations to dozens of Israeli recipients over which it has no direction or control, and who do not conduct programming in its name. None of this is legal under the Income Tax Act,” the report stated.
In an emailed statement to The Maple, Canada Charity Partners denied the report’s allegations:
“The characterizations in the cited report regarding Canada Charity Partners are incorrect. We take CRA regulations extremely seriously and invest substantial resources to ensure full compliance with all applicable laws and regulations. Our organization exercises direction and control over the programs that we operate, and does so without discrimination based on religion, race, or ethnic origin.”
The IJV/JPA report said tax data from 2019 to 2023 showed that Canada Charity Partners has donated to various organizations involved in illegal settlements and other problematic activities, including the Jewish Community Hebron, Geula Titnu Larets and the Temple Institute.
The Maple independently verified that CCP is listed on “israelgives.org,” which describes CCP as one of its “international foundations” that allows website users to “donate tax-deductibly” to a range of Israel-based causes.
The Israel-based causes listed on the website include a campaign run by the “Ari Fuld Project” for “tactical gear” for an Israeli military unit. The Ari Fuld Project website provides instructions on how to make a donation from Canada via CCP.
The Maple also independently examined CRA filings that showed CCP transferred funds to the Jewish Community Hebron, Geula Titnu Larets and the Temple Institute between 2019 and 2021.
Hebron is a Palestinian city in the occupied West Bank. On the “israelgives.org” website, the Jewish Community Hebron states that its organizers “redeem property, build apartments, [and] promote tourism.”
On the same website, Geula Titnu Larets states that its mission is “Encouraging the Jewish people in Israel and the Diaspora to invest in the redemption of houses and land throughout the Land of Israel.”
The organization’s address is listed as being located in “Kiryat Arba,” an Israeli settlement on the outskirts of Hebron that is widely recognized as illegal under international law. The website gives the organization a “49%” transparency rating.
Kiryat Arba is widely seen as a hotbed of radical settler activity. Residents include far-right Israeli government minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.
The Temple Institute, meanwhile, has a long-term goal of replacing the Dome of the Rock, an Islamic shrine at the centre of Al-Aqsa Mosque, with a third Jewish Temple in Jerusalem.
The Maple sent CCP multiple follow up emails asking if the CRA has audited its activities, and whether it disputes the specific allegation that some of its funds have been sent to Israeli groups involved in settler activity.
No response to the follow up requests was received.
Nur Dogan is a Turkish-Canadian freelance journalist and photojournalist.
With files from Alex Cosh.
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