CRA lays ground to revoke Schwartz and Reisman’s IDF charity

 

As protesters descend on 20 Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) offices across the country today to demand it apply the Income Tax Act towards 200 Israel-focused charities, the CRA has prepared the ground to revoke the charitable status of a much-criticized charity set up by billionaire power couple Gerry Schwartz and Heather Reisman. In its letters to the Ne’eman Foundation revoking its charitable status the CRA leaves little doubt that Schwartz and Reisman’s HESEG Foundation for Lone Soldiers violates charity rules.

In its rationale for revoking the Ne’eman Foundation the CRA makes it clear that it considers assisting the Israeli military and “lone soldiers” a violation of charity rules. Its recently released revocation letter notes, “We further stated that increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), which is further discussed in section 2.b), is not a charitable purpose.” Referring to “lone soldiers” more than a dozen times, the CRA letter notes, “‘The Lone Soldier Centre’s website also clearly defines the term lone soldier as “an IDF soldier with no family in Israel to support him or her’… As such, we are unable to accept the Organization’s representations that this agent does not support the IDF and that lone soldiers are simply immigrants without a family in Israel.”

In 2005 Reisman and Schwartz established the HESEG Foundation for Lone Soldiers. Since then, they have given nearly $200 million to support Torontonians, New Yorkers and other non-Israeli “lone soldiers” who join an occupation force brutalizing Palestinians.

Up to “90%” of wealthy people’s donations to registered charities are covered by all taxpayers, explains charity law expert Mark Blumberg in a recent Canadian Jewish News interview on the revocation of the Jewish National Fund’s charitable status. “There’s a lot of wealthy people getting 80 or 90 cents on the dollar when they donate”, explained Blumberg. “What that means is their money is going to Israel, for very good stuff in Israel, but it’s only 10 cents their money. 90 percent [is] federal and provincial money.”  (more...)

CRA lays ground to revoke Schwartz and Reisman’s IDF charity