American Friends of Ateret Cohanim
The American Friends of Ateret Cohanim is a US non-profit whose official object is "Providing funding for Yeshiva Ateret Cohanim, a higher educational institution in Israel."[1]
However, Haaretz reported in August 2009 that money the group donated to Ateret Cohanim was being used primarily for political purposes such as purchasing Arab land in East Jerusalem.
- Daniel Luria, chief fund-raiser for Ateret Cohanim in Israel, told Haaretz Sunday that the American organization's registration as an educational entity stemmed from tax considerations.
- "We are an umbrella organization that engages in redeeming land," he said. "Our [fund-raising] activity in New York goes solely toward land redemption."
- Although Ateret Cohanim also operates a yeshiva, Ateret Yerushalayim, in the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem's Old City, fund-raising for the yeshiva is handled by a different organization: American Friends of Yeshivat Ateret Yerushalayim."[2]
Notes
- ↑ American Friends of Ateret Cohanim, Charity Navigator, accessed 21 September 2010.
- ↑ Uri Blau, U.S. group invests tax-free millions in East Jerusalem land, Haaretz, 17 August 2009.