Tel Aviv University Trust

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UK fundraising charity for Tel Aviv University

Tel Aviv University Trust

Logo Tel Aviv university logo - Hebrew.png
Type Charitable company
Founded 1969-03-03 (registered)
Registration ID Registered charity 314179; company 00939510
Headquarters Lady Ruth House, Gabriel Mews, London, NW2 2GD
Area served Israel, Barnet
Key people David Robert Meller (chair)
Website https://tautrust.org/


Tel Aviv University Trust (TAU Trust) is a charitable company that raises funds for Tel Aviv University in Ramat Aviv, Israel, and promotes UK–TAU academic links.[1] Grants payable in the year ended 30 September 2025 totalled £4,023,216, remitted to TAU.[2] The website's "Stand With TAU" appeal describes trauma care for "those who protect and defend our country", memorial scholarships for students "fallen defending Israeli", and campus security vehicles.[3] The register lists the charity's website as tau-trust.org, but its actual website is tautrust.org, whose footer gives registered charity number 314179.[4]

Objects and activities

The charity's registered objects read: "TO PROVIDE FINANCIAL AND MATERIAL ASSISTANCE, ENCOURAGEMENT AND SUPPORT TO AND FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF EDUCATION, ART AND SCIENCE AND OTHER BRANCHES OF LEARNING, (INCLUDING THE PROVISION OF SCHOLARSHIPS) AT TEL-AVIV UNIVERSITY IN RAMAT-AVIV, ISRAEL AND ANY CHARITABLE, NON-PROFIT MAKING EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION OF ACADEMIC STANDING WITH WHICH THE UNIVERSITY SHALL AT ANY TIME BE AMALGAMATED OR ASSOCIATED AND ANY OTHER SUCH INSTITUTION IN ISRAEL OR ELSEWHERE."[1]

The register describes its activities as: "TO PROVIDE FINANCIAL AND MATERIAL ASSISTANCE, AND SUPPORT TO AND FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF EDUCATION, ART AND SCIENCE AND OTHER BRANCHES OF LEARNING, (INCLUDING THE PROVISION OF SCHOLARSHIPS) AT TEL-AVIV UNIVERSITY AND ANY CHARITABLE, NON-PROFIT MAKING EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION OF ACADEMIC STANDING WITH WHICH THE UNIVERSITY SHALL AT ANY TIME BE AMALGAMATED OR ASSOCIATED AND ANY OTHER SUCH INSTITUTION."[1]

Register classifications: Education/training.[1]

Areas of operation recorded on the register: Israel, Barnet.[1]

The charity's website says TAU Trust is based in London, leads fundraising for Tel Aviv University, hosts about 15 events a year, invites TAU professors to speak to British audiences, and encourages academic collaboration between TAU and UK universities, as well as funding scholarships, research and student and faculty exchanges.[4] Its appeal for TAU's National Center for Traumatic Stress and Resilience says the centre's clinic "will treat large numbers of civilians and soldiers dealing with PTSD" and "will receive patients referred by the Defense Ministry and the National Insurance Institute".[5]

Trustees

David Meller, chair of the trustees, as shown on the trust's website. Photo: Tel Aviv University Trust website (tautrust.org/our-story); not freely licensed, used under the user-approved headshot policy of 16 Oct 2026.

Current trustees, with other charities on which the same register trustee ID appears:[1]

Trustees of Tel Aviv University Trust (register, October 2026)
Trustee Appointed Chair Other trusteeships
David Robert Meller not recorded Yes The British Friends of the Jaffa Institute (282049); The Jewish Museum London (1009819)
Anthony H Yadgaroff 2013-07-30 —
Daniel Lewin 2017-06-29 —
Susan Coller 2021-01-13 —
Benjamin Nemenyi 2023-09-06 —
ELLIOT Conway 2024-06-25 —

Website leadership and staff

The website's leadership page names David Meller (chair; it says he received a CBE in 2018 and an honorary fellowship from TAU in 2009, and sits on the boards of Policy Exchange and the JAFFA Institute), Elliot Conway (treasurer), Susan Coller (described as Development Director of British Friends of Merchavim since 2014 and a Governor of Tel Aviv University), Daniel Lewin, Ben Nemenyi and Anthony H Yadgaroff, with Edwin Wolfsohn as trustee emeritus. Staff listed are Cara Case (chief executive, running the Trust since 2008), Ruth Etzioni (head of operations), Avril Fleishman (legacy manager), Lilach Sonin Keshales (marketing, campaigns and events) and Brian Markeson (financial administrator).[6]

Historical trustees (UK Government Web Archive)

Trustees shown in archived register pages
Capture date Trustees listed Source
2010-07-17 David Robert Meller; Leslie Wolfson; Shoshana Schreiber; Anthony Harvey Yadgaroff; Derek Bluston; David Levin [7]
2011-09-26 David Robert Meller; Leslie Wolfson; Anthony Harvey Yadgaroff; Derek Bluston; William Shaul; David Levin; Emma Claudine Sinclair [8]
2018-01-05 David Robert Meller; Edwin Wulfsohn; Daniel Lewin; Anthony H Yadgaroff; David Benaim; Richard Philip Anton; Warner Colin Mandel; Anne Joseph [9]
2021-07-02 Anthony H Yadgaroff (from 30 July 2013); Susan Coller (from 13 January 2021); Richard Philip Anton (from 09 July 2014); Daniel Lewin (from 29 June 2017); David Robert Meller (chair) – also trustee of The British Friends of the Jaffa Institute, Presidents Club Charitable Trust; Asaf Anolik (from 02 September 2019); Marc Worth (from 13 January 2021); Edwin Wulfsohn (from 01 September 2010) – also trustee of Cwplus, The Contemporary Art Society [10]

Companies House officers

Companies House lists 35 current and former officers of the charitable company (00939510), 6 of them active.[11] Officers recorded as resident outside the UK: Shoshana Schreiber (Israel, resigned).[11]

Finances

Income and expenditure, five most recent reported years
Financial year end Income Expenditure
2021-09-30 £2,896,683 £2,665,301
2022-09-30 £2,656,255 £2,675,185
2023-09-30 £4,377,401 £4,151,112
2024-09-30 £4,061,548 £4,093,398
2025-09-30 £4,382,380 £4,415,598

Source: register annual-return history.[1]

Historical finances (UK Government Web Archive)

Income and spending shown on archived register pages
Financial year end Income (£) Spending (£) Source
30 Sep 2004 829,567 863,224 [12]
30 Sep 2005 1,262,447 981,156 [12]
30 Sep 2006 1,039,675 1,087,893 [12]
30 Sep 2007 1,061,332 1,176,004 [12]
30 Sep 2008 1,492,767 1,540,794 [12]
30 Sep 2009 806,837 520,521 [13]
30 Sep 2010 1,797,093 1,932,101 [13]
30 Sep 2012 1,960,648 1,701,626 [14]
30 Sep 2013 986,637 1,174,694 [14]
30 Sep 2014 860,136 839,710 [14]
30 Sep 2015 1,130,034 1,236,245 [14]
30 Sep 2016 8,527,562 8,424,510 [14]

Archived accounts

Accounts no longer on the live register were found in the UK Government Web Archive:

  • Accounts for the year ended 30/09/2006[15]
  • Accounts for the year ended 30/09/2007[16]
  • Accounts for the year ended 30/09/2008[17]
  • Accounts for the year ended 30/09/2009[18]
  • Accounts for the year ended 30/09/2010[19]
  • Accounts for the year ended 30/09/2014[20]
  • Accounts for the year ended 30/09/2015[21]
  • Accounts for the year ended 30/09/2016[22]
  • Accounts for the year ended 30/09/2017[23]
  • Accounts for the year ended 30/09/2018[24]

Funding in Israel

Tel Aviv University (2024), to which the trust remitted grants of £4,023,216 in 2024/25
  • FY2025 grants payable £4,023,216 remitted to Tel Aviv University (Ramat Aviv).[2]

Israeli partners

Sole principal partner: Tel Aviv University.[2]

Activity beyond the Green Line and support for the IDF

Findings are graded by confidence. "Partner" findings concern the Israeli recipient organisation, not proven use of UK funds.

Evidence of activity beyond the 1949 armistice line
Finding Confidence
TAU main campus is inside the Green Line at Ramat Aviv. Partner-level controversies about TAU research units are noted under Controversies; not mapped as settlement funding. none

Support for the IDF: The Stand With TAU page seeks funds for trauma care for people who "protect and defend" Israel, memorial scholarships for fallen defenders, and campus security. Accounts remit restricted gifts to TAU in full; location of spend within TAU is not itemised.[3][2] Confidence: medium for security/defence-adjacent fundraising language; low for direct IDF equipment funding by the UK charity.[2]

Controversies and regulatory action

  • Partner university and military research (context). Middle East Eye reported (16 June 2021) criticism of UK university ties with Tel Aviv University, citing the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) and related research; these are partner-level findings, not proven use of UK Trust funds.[25]
  • Hansard contains references to Tel Aviv University generally; they do not discuss the UK Trust as such.

Other registers and records

Scotland and Northern Ireland

No entry was found on the Scottish Charity Register for this charity (full register download of 14 October 2026 searched by name).[26] No entry was found on the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland register (API name searches returned zero results).[27]

The Gazette

Searches of The Gazette notice feeds (all notices, insolvency and company) for the charity's name found no insolvency, winding-up or strike-off notice; results were limited to Companies House filing lists.[28]

Grants recorded by 360Giving

Grants received (360Giving data)
Date Funder Amount (£) Purpose
2015-08-25 Pears Foundation 20,000 India-Israel Forum
2016-10-18 Pears Foundation 20,000 Core funding: India Israel Forum
2017-10-20 Pears Foundation 20,000 Core funding for the India Israel Forum
2018-10-24 Pears Foundation 20,000 India Israel Forum
2019-09-26 Pears Foundation 24,000 Funding for the India-Israel Forum
2021-11-08 Pears Foundation 20,000 India-Israel Forum
2022-09-23 Pears Foundation 20,000 India-Israel Forum
2023-10-02 Pears Foundation 20,000 India-Israel Forum 2023-24

No grants made by the charity are published in 360Giving data, so flows between linked charities could not be traced there.[29]

Sanctions screening

The names of current and archived trustees and Companies House officers were screened against the UK Sanctions List and the OFSI Consolidated List. No match on full name was found; only coincidental surname matches. Viatcheslav Moshe Kantor (UK sanctions ID RUS1127) does not appear among this charity's trustees or officers.[30]

Land and property

The register records that the charity does not own or lease land or property.[1] No title registers were purchased; the HM Land Registry interactive search blocked automated access.[31]

US counterparts (ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer)

Organisation EIN Latest filing year Revenue (US$) Expenses (US$)
American Friends Of The Tel Aviv University Inc[32] 131996126 2023 36,048,482 40,718,630

These US organisations share the name or beneficiary of the UK charity; no financial flows between them and the UK charity were established.

Parliament

Selected Hansard references
Date House Member Debate
1981-02-18 Lords [[]] The Middle East: Eec Initiatives[33]

A search of Hansard for 'Tel Aviv University' returned 7 contributions in total; most are general references rather than discussion of the UK charity.[33]

Web archive

  • The register gives the website as tau-trust.org, for which the Wayback Machine holds no captures; the charity's actual site is tautrust.org (no separate captures under www.tautrust.org).[34][35]
  • September 2018: the home page promoted a scholarship campaign ("by supporting the next generation of students at Tel Aviv University") and events such as Innovate Israel and BOG 2018.[36]
  • January 2022: the scholarship campaign, a "TAU Global Campaign" and COVID-19 news; an "In the media" item headlined "TAU-IDF establish air and space power center" (Jerusalem Post).[37]
  • January 2024: after the 7 October 2023 attacks the home page carried a "TAU Emergency Fund" with a goal "to send £500,000 to Israel on 31 December", listing among its uses "Combat solider scholarships for reservists called to active duty" and tutoring for "returning combat" students, and webinars including "Bring Them Home: Taking Action for the Israeli Hostages" and "The PTSD Fallout From The War With Hamas".[38]
  • January 2026: the home page led with "Join Us on the Road to Breakthroughs" (research appeal) and news items including "Israel's First India Chair Established at TAU".[39]

The UK Government Web Archive holds 5 archived Charity Commission register pages used in this profile (cited in the sections above). The 2021 archived full print showed the status "Charity reporting is up to date (on time)" and "Other regulators: No information available".[10]

See also

External links

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Charity Commission for England and Wales, Register of Charities public extract (tables charity, charity_trustee, charity_annual_return_history, charity_area_of_operation, charity_classification), extract dated 14 October 2026.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Charity Commission, Tel Aviv University Trust (314179): accounts and annual returns Register of Charities; latest accounts downloaded 14 October 2026 ("PDF p." = page of the PDF file).
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Tel Aviv University Trust, Stand With TAU tautrust.org (accessed 14 October 2026).
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Tel Aviv University Trust, TAU Trust UK | Tel Aviv University Trust tautrust.org (accessed 15 October 2026).
  5. ↑ Tel Aviv University Trust, The National Center for Traumatic Stress and Resilience tautrust.org (accessed 15 October 2026).
  6. ↑ Tel Aviv University Trust, Our Story (leadership, meet the team, contact) tautrust.org (accessed 15 October 2026).
  7. ↑ Register entry 314179, contact and trustees (capture of 20100717) UK Government Web Archive.
  8. ↑ Register entry 314179, contact and trustees (capture of 20110926) UK Government Web Archive.
  9. ↑ Register entry 314179, contact and trustees (capture of 20180105) UK Government Web Archive.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Register entry 314179, full print (capture of 20210702) UK Government Web Archive.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Company 00939510: officers Companies House, viewed 14 October 2026.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 Register entry 314179, financial history (capture of 20100717) UK Government Web Archive.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Register entry 314179, financial history (capture of 20110926) UK Government Web Archive.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 Register entry 314179, financial history (capture of 20180105) UK Government Web Archive.
  15. ↑ Tel Aviv University Trust accounts, year ended 2006-09-30 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20110929).
  16. ↑ Tel Aviv University Trust accounts, year ended 2007-09-30 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20110929).
  17. ↑ Tel Aviv University Trust accounts, year ended 2008-09-30 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20110929).
  18. ↑ Tel Aviv University Trust accounts, year ended 2009-09-30 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20110929).
  19. ↑ Tel Aviv University Trust accounts, year ended 2010-09-30 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20110929).
  20. ↑ Tel Aviv University Trust accounts, year ended 2014-09-30 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20200104).
  21. ↑ Tel Aviv University Trust accounts, year ended 2015-09-30 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20200104).
  22. ↑ Tel Aviv University Trust accounts, year ended 2016-09-30 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20200104).
  23. ↑ Tel Aviv University Trust accounts, year ended 2017-09-30 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20200104).
  24. ↑ Tel Aviv University Trust accounts, year ended 2018-09-30 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20200104).
  25. ↑ Middle East Eye, Manchester University staff demand end to ties with Tel Aviv University Middle East Eye, 16 June 2021.
  26. ↑ Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, Scottish Charity Register download OSCR, CharityExport-14-Oct-2026.csv, downloaded 14 October 2026; keyword search of charity names for the batch found no matching Scottish registration (the only hit for "breakthrough" was Breakthrough Breast Cancer SC039058, unrelated).
  27. ↑ Charity Commission for Northern Ireland, Register of charities search API CCNI, searched 14 October 2026 (keyword searches for each batch charity name returned zero results).
  28. ↑ The Gazette: notices matching 'Tel Aviv University' The Gazette, searched 14 October 2026.
  29. ↑ 360Giving API: grants received by GB-CHC-314179 360Giving, queried 14 October 2026.
  30. ↑ Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, UK Sanctions List (CSV, version of 12 October 2026); Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation, Consolidated List of Financial Sanctions Targets (ConList.csv, last updated 3 June 2026). Screening of 405 names (current and archived trustees and Companies House officers of the 25 batch-1 charities) carried out 14 October 2026.
  31. ↑ HM Land Registry, Search for land and property information GOV.UK – the service returned HTTP 403 (bot protection) to automated access on 14 October 2026; no titles were looked up or purchased. Candidate title numbers below come from the free CCOD / OCOD datasets (October 2026 release), not from paid title registers.
  32. ↑ American Friends Of The Tel Aviv University Inc – Nonprofit Explorer ProPublica, viewed 14 October 2026.
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 UK Parliament, Hansard search API: contributions matching 'Tel Aviv University' Hansard, queried 14 October 2026 (Spoken and Written endpoints).
  34. ↑ Internet Archive CDX index for tau-trust.org Wayback Machine, queried 14 October 2026.
  35. ↑ Internet Archive CDX index for tautrust.org Wayback Machine, queried 15 October 2026 (one capture per year, 2018–2026).
  36. ↑ tautrust.org home page (capture of 3 September 2018) Wayback Machine.
  37. ↑ tautrust.org home page (capture of 18 January 2022) Wayback Machine.
  38. ↑ tautrust.org home page (capture of 1 January 2024) Wayback Machine.
  39. ↑ tautrust.org home page (capture of 1 January 2026) Wayback Machine.
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