Difference between revisions of "Hashomer Hatzair (UK charity)"
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Revision as of 10:00, 22 October 2026
North London charitable company, linked to the Israeli youth movement of the same name, that holds a £2,000,000 investment property, leases its building to Yeladim until 2044 and makes an annual grant of "approximately £30,057" to Meretz UK
For the international youth movement and other uses, see Hashomer Hatzair (disambiguation).
| Hashomer Hatzair
| |
|---|---|
| Logo | 
|
| Type | Charitable company |
| Founded | 25 November 2014 (registered) |
| Registration ID | Registered charity 1159336; company 08978316 |
| Headquarters | London N19 |
| Area served | Throughout London, Israel, Jordan |
| Key people | John Laurens Strawson (chair) |
| Website | hashomer.org.uk |
Hashomer Hatzair (in the UK) is a charitable company (08978316) registered with the Charity Commission on 25 November 2014; its registered office is in London N19.[1][2][3] Its website says that "Founded in 1971, Hashomer Hatzair UK upkeeps a link with the Israeli youth movement of Hasomer Hatzair".[4] Its objects are education, "in particular in relation to Jewish Values, history and culture", and the "promotion of religious, cultural, social and racial harmony, in particular between Jewish and other peoples, with a particular focus on Jewish young people".[3] The accounts for the year to 30 April 2025 name the trustees as Pauline Rosalyn Levis, John Laurens Strawson (chair and company secretary), Deborah Helen Sacks, Lawrence Ross Joffe and Micha Drori, with Alison Prager and Yehuda Erdman resigning on 16 March 2025; Companies House records Micha Drori as resident in Israel and shows Lawrence Ross Joffe and Pauline Rosalyn Levis as resigned.[3][2] The charity gives "continuing regular support for the educational, cultural and social activities of Meretz UK", which promotes "harmonious relations between Jews and non-Jews in Britain, Israel and Palestine"; "The grant has remained at approximately £30,057 despite inflation", and the detailed accounts show grants to institutions of £30,058 (2024: £47,840).[3] The trustees say the charity's ability "to continue to operate and fund activities in Israel and the UK" has been due to its reserves; it "secured a lease agreement with Yeladim for the entire building, ensuring rental income is secured until 2044", and plans "to extend its support to WZO Education".[3] Income was £44,876 (2024: £37,567): rent of £36,870 and grants from other charities of £8,006; spending was £58,834, including legal and professional fees of £16,867, accountancy of £5,145 and trustees' travel and subsistence of £1,779; funds fell from £2,074,027 to £2,060,069, and the investment property is carried at £2,000,000 at the trustees' valuation.[3] The accounts were examined by Jeremy Leboff FCCA of Sobell Rhodes LLP, Borehamwood, and signed by John Laurens Strawson on 16 January 2026.[3]
- Hashomer Hatzair UK is the UK branch of the Hashomer Hatzair World Movement, the youth movement of Meretz UK, part of the World Union of Meretz of which the Israel based political party is Meretz
Affiliations
- Kibbutz Artzi : Kibbutz Gal On | Kibbutz Nirim | Kibbutz Shoval
- Mapam
- Hashomer Hatzair Workers Party
- 11 Points in the Negev
Objects and activities
The charity's registered objects read: "3.1 THE CHARITY'S OBJECTS ARE:3.1.1 THE ADVANCEMENT OF EDUCATION, IN PARTICULAR IN RELATION TO JEWISH VALUES, HISTORY AND CULTURE; AND3.1.2 THE PROMOTION OF RELIGIOUS, CULTURAL, SOCIAL AND RACIAL HARMONY, IN PARTICULAR BETWEEN JEWISH AND OTHER PEOPLESWITH A PARTICULAR FOCUS ON YOUNG JEWISH PEOPLE."[5]
The register describes its activities as: "Promotes Jewish education and culture and good community relations between Jews and non-Jews in the UK and Israel."[5]
Register classifications: General Charitable Purposes, Education/training, Arts/culture/heritage/science, Human Rights/religious Or Racial Harmony/equality Or Diversity.[5]
Areas of operation recorded on the register: Throughout London, Israel, Jordan.[5]
People
Members
Pinchas Abramovich | Shulamit Aloni | Tosia Altman | Moshe Amar | Mordechai Anielewicz | Reuven Arazi | Menachem Bader | Yohanan Bader | Aryeh Bahir | Dov Bar-Nir | Shulamit Bat-Dori | Herbert Baum | Yitzhak Ben-Aharon | Mordechai Bentov | Chasia Bornstein-Bielicka | Peter Buch | Phyllis Chesler | Shalom Cohen (politician) | Elias Davidsson | Latif Dori | Aharon Efrat | Hussein Faris | Naftali Feder | Dov Feigin | Naomi Frankel | Isabel Frey | Yisrael Friedman (Pashkaner Rebbe) | Mira Fuchrer | Abraham Gancwajch | Ya'akov Gil (politician born 1931) | Haika Grossman | Michael Harsgor | Ya'akov Hazan | David Horowitz (economist) | Abba Hushi | Yeshayahu Jelínek | Amos Kenan | Chajka Klinger | Itzik Kol | Žamila Kolonomos | Rozka Korczak | Hannah Lamdan | Abraham Leon | Oded Lifshitz | Amnon Linn | Hildegard Löwy | Zvi Lurie | Judith Maro | Yeruham Meshel | Martin Monath | Avraham Mor | Kidnapping of Gadi Moses | Mordechai Oren | Sheffi Paz | Natan Peled | Eliezer Peri | Karl Pfeifer | Jacob Pinkerfield | Zofia Poznańska | Ya'akov Riftin | Roza Robota | Eliezer Ronen | Miriam Roth | Lothar Salinger | Yosef Shofman | Yehezkel Streichman | Emma Talmi | Meir Talmi | Benjamin Tene | Leopold Trepper | Esther Vilenska | Meir Vilner | Muhammed Wattad | Munio Weinraub | Moshe Wertman | Izrael Chaim Wilner | Meir Ya'ari | Yitzhak Suknik | Yeruham Zeisel | Rachel Zilberberg
Associated
- Tony Benn | Greg Philo
- Bernie Sanders: The U.S. Senator and democratic socialist volunteered for several months in 1963 at Kibbutz Sha'ar HaAmakim. He traveled to Israel specifically as a guest of the Hashomer Hatzair movement.[6]
- Noam Chomsky: The world-renowned linguist, anarchist, and left-wing activist heavily sympathized and worked with Hashomer Hatzair in his youth, though he never officially became a member. In 1953, he and his wife spent time living and working at Kibbutz HaZore'a, a kibbutz co-founded by the movement.[7]
- Bella Abzug: The influential American feminist, civil rights lawyer, and left-wing U.S. Representative was a leader in the primary North American branch of Hashomer Hatzair during her youth.[8]
- Tony Cliff (Ygael Gluckstein) and his wife Chanie Rosenberg[9]: The prominent British Trotskyist intellectual and founder of the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) was raised in Palestine and was an active member of Hashomer Hatzair before breaking away to embrace revolutionary Marxism and anti-Zionism.[10]
- Ernest Mandel: The famous Belgian Marxist theoretician, economist, and a primary leader of the Trotskyist Fourth International was a member of Hashomer Hatzair in his youth.
- Oliver Sacks: The renowned British neurologist, leftist thinker, and author spent the summer of 1955 working at Kibbutz Ein HaShofet, which was established by North American and European Hashomer Hatzair graduates.
- Abraham Leon: The Belgian Jewish Marxist theoretician, famous for writing The Jewish Question: A Marxist Interpretation, was a major leader of Hashomer Hatzair in Belgium before converting to Trotskyism during World War II.
- Martin Monath: A German Jewish socialist who was a member of the movement before moving to Belgium and France, where he organized high-level Trotskyist resistance against the Nazi occupation.
- Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir: The iconic French existentialist philosophers visited Israel in 1967 and toured Kibbutz Lehavot HaBashan, engaging extensively with French-speaking members of the socialist kibbutz.
- Manès Sperber: The Austrian-French novelist, psychologist, and prominent left-wing intellectual was deeply involved with the movement in his earlier years.
Historical trustees (UK Government Web Archive)
| Capture date | Trustees listed | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2021-01-17 | Pauline Rosalyn Levis (from 01 June 2014); Yehuda James Erdman (from 01 June 2014); Micha Drori (from 01 June 2014); Lawrence Ross Joffe (from 01 June 2014); Deborah Helen Sacks (from 01 June 2014); John Laurens Strawson (chair) (from 01 June 2014); Alison Prager (from 21 December 2017) | [11] |
The charity's website says John Strawson has been a trustee since 1999 and is Reader Emeritus in Law and Middle East Studies at the University of East London, and was a visiting professor at the Institute of Law at Birzeit University (1996–2006); it describes Micha Drori as legal adviser to the Kibbutz Movement in Israel.[4]
Companies House officers
Companies House lists 8 current and former officers of the charitable company (08978316), 4 of them active.[12] Officers recorded as resident outside the UK: Micha Drori (Israel, active).[12]
Finances
| Financial year end | Income | Expenditure |
|---|---|---|
| 2021-04-30 | £45,236 | £45,236 |
| 2022-04-30 | £39,667 | £45,183 |
| 2023-04-30 | £36,888 | £54,942 |
| 2024-04-30 | £37,567 | £72,061 |
| 2025-04-30 | £44,876 | £58,834 |
Source: register annual-return history.[5]
Funding in Israel
- Year to 30 April 2025: grants to institutions of £30,058, described as support for Meretz UK; the accounts also refer to funding "activities in Israel and the UK" without giving amounts or places.[3]
Israeli partners
No Israeli recipient is named. Meretz UK is UK-based; the charity plans to support "WZO Education" (World Zionist Organization).[3]
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.
| Finding | Confidence |
|---|---|
| No place in Israel is named.[3] | Not established |
Support for the IDF: No IDF or military funding is stated.[3]
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;[13] 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.[14][15][16][17] 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.[18]
- Inconsistent statements. The report says "The trustees have remained the same during the during" [sic], although two trustees resigned on 16 March 2025; the detailed statement prints the 2024 opening fund balance as £55,725, against the closing figure of £2,074,027; and the "Other income" table totals £36,870 while listing grants of £8,006 as well as rent of £36,870.[3]
- Property not recorded on the register. The register says the charity does not own or lease land or property, but the accounts show an investment property of £2,000,000 leased to Yeladim, and HM Land Registry's corporate ownership data list a freehold in Broadhurst Gardens, Hampstead, London NW6, in the company's name and number.[3][5][19]
- Register trustees out of date. Companies House shows Lawrence Ross Joffe and Pauline Rosalyn Levis as resigned, but the register still lists both as trustees.[2][5]
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, searched by name).[20] No entry was found on the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland register (API name searches returned zero results).[21]
The Gazette
Searches of The Gazette for the charity's name returned only Companies House filing lists; no insolvency, winding-up or strike-off notice naming the charity was found.[22]
Grants recorded by 360Giving
No grants received or made by this charity are recorded in 360Giving data.[23]
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.[24]
Land and property
The register records that the charity does not own or lease land or property.[5] No title registers were purchased; the HM Land Registry interactive search blocked automated access.[25] Candidate titles and addresses (CCOD dataset and register/accounts data):[19]
- Investment property of £2,000,000 at the trustees' valuation; the whole building is leased to Yeladim, with rental income "secured until 2044"; address not stated; the register says the charity does not own or lease land or property – Accounts (trustees' report and balance sheet) (source: [3])
- Freehold property, Broadhurst Gardens, Hampstead, London NW6 (title NGL374876, freehold; proprietor added 02/05/2019) – CCOD record in the name Hashomer Hatzair with the charity's company number (08978316); the accounts do not give the address of the charity's building; candidate title, not purchased (source: [19])
Parliament
Hansard exact-phrase searches for "Hashomer Hatzair" returned 0 contributions in total.[26]
Web archive
- hashomer.org.uk: 10 yearly captures, first 2016-10-29, last 2025-03-29.[27]
The UK Government Web Archive holds 2 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".[11]
List of Hashomer Hatzair kibbutzim
The Hashomer Hatzair youth movement, through its associated Kibbutz Artzi federation (founded 1927), established approximately 75–85 kibbutzim in Mandatory Palestine and Israel.[28][28]
Notable kibbutzim founded or closely associated with the movement include:
- Ein HaShofet
- Kfar Menachem
- Hazorea
- Sasa
- Barkai
- Gal'on
- Nachshon
- Lahav
- Shomrat
- Harel
- Gvulot
- Adamit
- Negba
- Hanita
- Sha'ar HaAmakim
- HaZore'a
- Lehavot HaBashan
- Gan Shmuel
- Mishmar HaEmek
- Ma'abarot
- Merhavia
- Ein Shemer
Many of these were established in the 1920s–1950s by graduates of the movement from Europe and North America and formed the core of the Kibbutz Artzi federation, which later merged into the broader Kibbutz Movement.[29]
See also
Resources
- Beinin, J. (1990). Was the Red Flag Flying There? Marxist Politics and the Arab-Israeli Conflict in Eqypt and Israel 1948-1965. Univ of California Press.
- Cohen, I. (1945). The Zionist movement. London: Frederick Muller.
- Leon, D. (1969). The kibbutz: A new way of life. Elsevier.
- Lockman, Z. (1976). The left in Israel: Zionism vs. socialism. MERIP Reports, (49), 3-18.
- Schulman, J. (2003). The life and death of socialist Zionism. New Politics, 9(3), 127-137.
Notes
- ↑ Charity Commission, Hashomer Hatzair (1159336): full print Register of Charities, retrieved 16 October 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Companies House, HASHOMER HATZAIR (08978316) Find and update company information, overview and officers, viewed 16 October 2026.
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 Charity Commission, Hashomer Hatzair (1159336): accounts and annual returns Register of Charities; latest accounts downloaded 16 October 2026 ("PDF p." = page of the PDF file).
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Hashomer Hatzair UK, About us hashomer.org.uk, viewed 16 October 2026.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 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, charity_other_names), extract dated 14 October 2026.
- ↑ Yossi Melman, Mystery solved: Sanders volunteered at kibbutz Shaar HaAmakim Jewish Telegraphic Agency, February 5, 2016.
- ↑ Noam Chomsky, A portrait of Chomsky as a young Zionist Chomsky.info, November 7, 2011.
- ↑ Blanche Wiesen Cook, Bella Abzug Jewish Women's Archive (Encyclopedia), viewed 20 October 2026 ("Her Hebrew school teacher, Levi Soshuk, recruited her to a left-wing labor Zionist group, Ha-Shomer ha-Za'ir").
- ↑ https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/sep/07/chanie-rosenberg-obituary
- ↑ Tony Cliff, Tony Cliff: A World to Win Marxists.org, 2000 (detailing early Hashomer Hatzair involvement).
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Register entry 1159336, full print (capture of 20210117) UK Government Web Archive.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Company 08978316: officers Companies House, viewed 16 October 2026.
- ↑ 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 each of the 25 batch-23 charities, all retrieved on 16 October 2026 and checked for a "Regulatory alerts" notice; none was shown.
- ↑ Charity Commission, Serious concerns over use of £22 million triggers investigation by charity regulator GOV.UK, 14 May 2025.
- ↑ Charity Commission, Regulator opens next phase of investigation into 105 charities connected to company cashing cheques GOV.UK, 1 September 2025.
- ↑ Charity Commission, Regulator announces next charities to be investigated as part of inquiry connected to company cashing cheques GOV.UK, 4 December 2025.
- ↑ 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).
- ↑ Charity Commission, Charity regulator opens inquiry into charities working in illegal Israeli settlements GOV.UK, 5 August 2026 (a fact-finding statutory class inquiry initially involving 8 charities which "are not being publicly named at this time").
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 HM Land Registry, UK companies that own property in England and Wales (CCOD) and Overseas companies that own property in England and Wales (OCOD) full extracts, October 2026 release, matched on the company numbers of the charitable companies in this batch and searched for distinctive charity-name keywords; no title registers were purchased.
- ↑ Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, Scottish Charity Register download OSCR, export dated 14 October 2026; keyword search of the 25 batch-23 charity names found no matching Scottish registration.
- ↑ Charity Commission for Northern Ireland, Register of charities search API CCNI, searched 16 October 2026 (keyword searches for each of the 25 batch-23 charity names returned zero results).
- ↑ The Gazette: notices matching 'Hashomer Hatzair' The Gazette, searched 16 October 2026.
- ↑ 360Giving API: grants received by GB-CHC-1159336 360Giving, queried 16 October 2026.
- ↑ Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, UK Sanctions List (CSV); Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation, Consolidated List of Financial Sanctions Targets (ConList.csv). Batch-23 screening covered 249 name strings: the 25 charity names and their other names, current register trustees, trustees named on archived register pages, trustees, officers and other people named in the accounts and websites read for this batch, and the Companies House officers of the charitable companies; the only hits were generic words (such as "Trust", "Company Limited" in the name of a corporate formation agent, and ".com") and surname-only matches, which were rejected; no person matched. Screened 16 October 2026.
- ↑ HM Land Registry, Search for land and property information GOV.UK – the service returned HTTP 403 (bot protection) to automated access in 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.
- ↑ UK Parliament, Hansard search API: contributions matching the exact phrase "Hashomer Hatzair" Hansard, queried 16 October 2026 (Spoken and Written endpoints; quoted-phrase search).
- ↑ Internet Archive CDX index for hashomer.org.uk Wayback Machine, queried 16 October 2026.
- ↑ 28.0 28.1 Shaked Gilboa, Ha-Kibbutz ha-Arzi ha-Shomer ha-Za'ir Encyclopaedia Judaica (2nd ed.), via Encyclopedia.com, viewed 20 October 2026 ("founded in 1927 ... In 1970, Ha-Kibbutz ha-Arẓi comprised 75 kibbutzim ... in the mid-1990s it numbered 85 kibbutzim").
- ↑ History of Hashomer Hatzair USA, History of Hashomer Hatzair USA Camp Shomria, December 25, 2022.