The British Friends of Migdal Ohr

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London trust funding the Migdal Ohr children's network in Israel, with large unexplained director fees

The British Friends of Migdal Ohr

Logo The British Friends of Migdal Ohr logo.png
Type Trust
Founded 1984-10-24 (registered)
Registration ID Registered charity 290371
Headquarters Po Box 25, 995 High Road, London, N12 8PW
Area served Israel
Website www.migdalohr.org.uk


The British Friends of Migdal Ohr (operating as Migdal Ohr UK) was registered on 24 October 1984; Israel is its only register area, and its objects include a "Migdal Ohr programme for Torah and chinuch in the North".[1] The 2024 accounts give its principal office as 11 Squirrels Close, London N12 8AY, and its trustees as J Esfandi, A Album, O Peleg, R Haruni, M Benisty and P Mann (appointed 1 January 2025), with A Fraser as chief executive for Europe. Income was £591,536 and expenditure £669,571, including grants of £350,000 to Migdal Ohr in Israel; funds were £298,135 (PDF p.3, 7, 12).[2] Its website says Migdal Ohr serves children "across Israel".[3]

Objects and activities

The charity's registered objects read: "TO PROVIDE FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR THE CHARITABLE PURPOSES OF THE MIGDAL OHR PROGRAMME FOR TORAH AND CHINUCH IN THE NORTH. (FOR FUTHER DETAILS SEE DEED DATED 18TH SEPTEMBER 1984)."[1]

The register describes its activities as: "TO APPLY FUNDS RECEIVED FOR THE CHARITABLE PURPOSES OF THE MIGDAL OHR PROGRAMME OF EDUCATION OF DEPRIVED CHILDREN AND NEW IMMIGRANTS IN THE NORTH OF ISRAEL."[1]

Register classifications: Education/training.[1]

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

Trustees

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

Trustees of The British Friends of Migdal Ohr (register, October 2026)
Trustee Appointed Chair Other trusteeships
Joseph Esfandi not recorded The Esfandi Charitable Foundation (1103095); The Iranian Jewish Centre (287256)
Richard Haruni 2012-02-08 —
Andrew Album 2012-02-08 Rechov Gordon Charitable Trust (1123619)
Maurice Benisty 2020-08-11 —
Paul Julian Mann 2025-01-01 Hs & D 2016 Foundation (1167361); The Work Avenue Foundation (1164762); We Hub Building (1118690)

Historical trustees (UK Government Web Archive)

Trustees shown in archived register pages
Capture date Trustees listed Source
2010-07-12 Joseph Esfandi; Stanley Warren Laufer Llb; Abraham Moses Dunner [4]
2011-09-26 Joseph Esfandi; Stanley Warren Laufer Llb; Abraham Moses Dunner [5]
2018-01-05 Joseph Esfandi; Stanley Warren Laufer Llb; Oren Samuel Peleg; Richard Haruni; Andrew Robert Album [6]
2021-01-12 Joseph Esfandi – also trustee of The Esfandi Charitable Foundation, The Iranian Jewish Centre; Maurice Benisty (from 11 August 2020) – also trustee of The UK Career Academy Foundation; Richard Haruni (from 08 February 2012); Oren Samuel Peleg (from 08 February 2012) – also trustee of The Oren and Rachel Peleg Foundation; Andrew Robert Album (from 08 February 2012) [7]

The 2024 accounts list O Peleg as a trustee (PDF p.3); the register does not.[2][1]

Finances

Income and expenditure, five most recent reported years
Financial year end Income Expenditure
2020-12-31 £617,186 £586,891
2021-12-31 £811,707 £763,713
2022-12-31 £746,491 £704,186
2023-12-31 £799,653 £579,175
2024-12-31 £591,536 £669,571

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
31 Dec 2012 364,723 316,983 [8]
31 Dec 2013 116,017 93,235 [8]
31 Dec 2014 456,261 457,976 [8]
31 Dec 2015 345,736 305,496 [8]
31 Dec 2016 703,841 699,330 [8]

Archived accounts

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

  • Accounts for the year ended 31/12/2006[9]
  • Accounts for the year ended 31/12/2007[10]
  • Accounts for the year ended 31/12/2008[11]
  • Accounts for the year ended 31/12/2009[12]
  • Accounts for the year ended 31/12/2010[13]
  • Accounts for the year ended 31/12/2014[14]
  • Accounts for the year ended 31/12/2015[15]
  • Accounts for the year ended 31/12/2016[16]
  • Accounts for the year ended 31/12/2017[17]
  • Accounts for the year ended 31/12/2018[18]

Funding in Israel

  • 2024: grant funding of £350,000 to Migdal Ohr in Israel for underprivileged, orphaned and at-risk children (PDF p.4, 12).[2]

Israeli partners

Migdal Ohr (Israel); Migdal Ohr France.[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
The accounts name no place in Israel. The charity's website says Migdal Ohr works "across Israel" and places its Zoharim Boys Youth Village "in the scenic Judean hills outside of Jerusalem" without a precise location.[2][3] Not established

Support for the IDF: No IDF or military funding is stated.[2]

Controversies and regulatory action

  • No Charity Commission inquiry, Official Warning or Gazette insolvency notice naming this charity was found, and its register entry shows no regulatory alert;[19] it is not among the charities named in the Commission's cheque-cashing class-inquiry announcements (May, September and December 2025) or in the September 2026 statement of results.[20][21][22][23] The charities in the Commission's settlements class inquiry (opened August 2026) have not been named, so it is not known whether this charity is among them.[24]
  • Director fees and consultancy. "Other expenditure" of £188,614 includes director fees of £105,300 (2023: £90,000) and consultancy of £80,097, without naming the recipients, while the accounts state that no trustee was paid (PDF p.7, 13, 15).[2]
  • Overheads. The report's table shows donations of £589,236 raised through Migdal Ohr UK, against expenditure of £319,571 (54%), plus £264,897 given directly to Migdal Ohr Israel and £23,287 to Migdal Ohr France; it describes overheads of 36% as "planned investment in long-term growth" (PDF p.4).[2] A balance of £2,039 was owed by Migdal Ohr France, described as a sister charity managed by the UK chief executive (PDF p.13).[2]

Other registers and records

Scotland and Northern Ireland

No entry was found on the Scottish Charity Register for this charity (register export dated 14 October 2026, downloaded 15 October 2026 and searched by name).[25] No entry was found on the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland register (API name searches returned zero results).[26]

The Gazette

Searches of The Gazette notice feeds (all notices, insolvency and company) for the charity's name returned no notices.[27]

Grants recorded by 360Giving

No grants received or made by this charity are recorded in 360Giving data.[28]

Sanctions screening

The charity's name, its current register trustees, trustees named on archived register pages, trustees and officers named in the accounts read for this profile and (for charitable companies) its Companies House officers were screened against the UK Sanctions List and the OFSI Consolidated List. No match was found.[29]

Land and property

The register records that the charity does not own or lease land or property.[1] No title registers were purchased.[30]

Parliament

Hansard searches for 'Friends of Migdal Ohr', 'Migdal Ohr' returned 0 contributions in total.[31]

Web archive

  • migdalohr.org.uk: 7 yearly captures, first 2020-08-04, last 2026-01-03.[32]

The UK Government Web Archive holds 3 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" and "Other regulators: No information available".[7]

See also

External links

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 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 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 Charity Commission, The British Friends of Migdal Ohr (290371): accounts and annual returns Register of Charities; latest accounts downloaded 15 October 2026 ("PDF p." = page of the PDF file).
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Migdal Ohr UK, Home migdalohr.org.uk, viewed 15 October 2026 (programmes for children "across Israel"; "The Zoharim Boys Youth Village is set on 30 acres in the scenic Judean hills outside of Jerusalem").
  4. ↑ Register entry 290371, contact and trustees (capture of 20100712) UK Government Web Archive.
  5. ↑ Register entry 290371, contact and trustees (capture of 20110926) UK Government Web Archive.
  6. ↑ Register entry 290371, contact and trustees (capture of 20180105) UK Government Web Archive.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Register entry 290371, full print (capture of 20210112) UK Government Web Archive.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 Register entry 290371, financial history (capture of 20180105) UK Government Web Archive.
  9. ↑ The British Friends of Migdal Ohr accounts, year ended 2006-12-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20110926).
  10. ↑ The British Friends of Migdal Ohr accounts, year ended 2007-12-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20110926).
  11. ↑ The British Friends of Migdal Ohr accounts, year ended 2008-12-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20110926).
  12. ↑ The British Friends of Migdal Ohr accounts, year ended 2009-12-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20110926).
  13. ↑ The British Friends of Migdal Ohr accounts, year ended 2010-12-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20111003).
  14. ↑ The British Friends of Migdal Ohr accounts, year ended 2014-12-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20200108).
  15. ↑ The British Friends of Migdal Ohr accounts, year ended 2015-12-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20200108).
  16. ↑ The British Friends of Migdal Ohr accounts, year ended 2016-12-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20200108).
  17. ↑ The British Friends of Migdal Ohr accounts, year ended 2017-12-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20200108).
  18. ↑ The British Friends of Migdal Ohr accounts, year ended 2018-12-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20200108).
  19. ↑ Charity Commission, Register of Charities, charity overview page (register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/en/charity-search/-/charity-details/ followed by the organisation number) for every charity in batches 1–7 (175 pages, all retrieved successfully on 15 October 2026) and checked for a "Regulatory alerts" section. Alerts appeared only for Mifal Hachesed Vehatzedokoh (1139320), Ezer Viznitz Foundation (1161881), BC Trust (1155555), Vyoel Moshe Charitable Trust (327054) – all named in the cheque-cashing class inquiry – and The Gevurath Ari Torah Academy Trust (1003102).
  20. ↑ Charity Commission, Serious concerns over use of £22 million triggers investigation by charity regulator GOV.UK, 14 May 2025.
  21. ↑ Charity Commission, Regulator opens next phase of investigation into 105 charities connected to company cashing cheques GOV.UK, 1 September 2025.
  22. ↑ Charity Commission, Regulator announces next charities to be investigated as part of inquiry connected to company cashing cheques GOV.UK, 4 December 2025.
  23. ↑ Charity Commission, Regulator concludes investigation into 4 charities as class inquiry continues GOV.UK, 9 September 2026, with Statement of the results of a class inquiry (same date), both retrieved 15 October 2026.
  24. ↑ Charity Commission, Charity regulator opens inquiry into charities working in illegal Israeli settlements GOV.UK, 5 August 2026, retrieved 15 October 2026 (a fact-finding statutory class inquiry initially involving 8 charities which "are not being publicly named at this time").
  25. ↑ Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, Scottish Charity Register download OSCR, downloaded October 2026; keyword search of the batch-7 charity names found no matching Scottish registration (the only hit, Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem Lieutenancy of Scotland, is a separate Scottish body).
  26. ↑ Charity Commission for Northern Ireland, Register of charities search API CCNI, searched 15 October 2026 (keyword searches for each batch-7 charity name returned zero results).
  27. ↑ The Gazette: notices matching 'Migdal Ohr' The Gazette, searched 15 October 2026.
  28. ↑ 360Giving API: grants received by GB-CHC-290371 360Giving, queried 15 October 2026.
  29. ↑ Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, UK Sanctions List (CSV); Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation, Consolidated List of Financial Sanctions Targets (ConList.csv). Batch-7 screening covered 428 name strings: the 25 charity names, current register trustees, trustees named on archived register pages (UK Government Web Archive), Companies House officers of the charitable companies, and trustees, officers, lenders, subsidiaries and related bodies named in the accounts read for this batch (including Ambertown International Ltd); matching on surname plus forename tokens, reviewed manually. The single forename-and-surname candidate (a former Wimbledon and District Synagogue director against a UK counter-terrorism designation) has different middle names and was not treated as a match; all other candidates were surname-only coincidences or generic word overlaps; lists downloaded October 2026.
  30. ↑ HM Land Registry, Search for land and property information GOV.UK, accessed 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.
  31. ↑ UK Parliament, Hansard search API: contributions matching 'Migdal Ohr' Hansard, queried 15 October 2026 (Spoken and Written endpoints).
  32. ↑ Internet Archive CDX index for migdalohr.org.uk Wayback Machine, queried 15 October 2026.
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