An Israeli charity that offered to help Brits move to the West Bank has been photographed at an event in London, despite calls for it to be sanctioned. Shivat Zion had a stall at an ‘Aliyah Fair’, held in Saracen’s Rugby Stadium in London yesterday. Organised by the World Zionist Organisation, the regular event is designed to help British Jews emigrate to Israel .
But last month, an undercover investigation by Declassified revealed how Shivat Zion bragged about “awesome” illegal settlements – and told supporters it could benefit from UK tax subsidies.
We filmed the group’s “encouragement” officer, Jonathan Vigné, discussing the support it would give settlers moving to Efrat, in the West Bank . Our investigation sparked calls from MPs for the government to impose sanctions on Shivat Zion, along with Vigné and the charity’s CEO, Shraga Evers, who lives in Efrat.
One Labour politician told us : “Strong government action is required to put an immediate end to this matter.”
But the government has repeatedly dodged the question. The Foreign Office claimed : “It is the UK’s longstanding policy not to speculate on potential sanctions designations.”
And the Home Office declined to condemn Shivat Zion, saying: “We do not comment on individual groups”.
When asked about it in Parliament last month, foreign secretary Yvette Cooper said: “No one should be building illegal settlements on the West Bank. It is essential that everyone abides by international law. “We would expect any organisation in the UK and people living in the UK to abide by international law.” ‘Horrifying’ The Aliyah Day event promised “information, guidance and community” for British Jews considering moving to Israel. It featured lectures on everything from entering the Israeli jobs market, to the tax advantages given to immigrants.
But the venue was kept secret until the day before, when people attending were emailed the location.
An anti-Zionist activist who attended the event for research purposes told Declassified it was well-attended.
“It was horrifying to see Shivat Zion being given this platform, given what it has said about illegal settlements,” they said.
“That this is happening supposedly ‘in our name’ as Jews, is sickening to those of us who mean it when we say: never again. And that this is potentially being supported with British charity tax benefits is deeply concerning.”
Alongside Shivat Zion’s appearance in London, Israel’s Minister of Aliya and Integration, Ofir Sofer, was also pictured at the event yesterday. Sofer has previously introduced financial rewards to new immigrants who settle in the West Bank.
He belongs to Israel’s far-right Religious Zionist party, whose leader Bezalel Smotrich has been sanctioned by the UK for “repeated incitements of violence against Palestinian communities”. Sofer’s ministry had a stall at yesterday’s Aliyah Fair, along with the Israeli Ministry of Education. A floor plan from the event in London. (Photo: Supplied) The British government has repeatedly condemned Israel’s illegal settlements in the West Bank. Just last week, the UK Chargé d’Affaires to the UN described them as a “flagrant violation of international law” which “must cease”.
And, in February, the government promised to take “concrete steps” to counter settlement expansion.
Yet almost a month after Declassified ’s investigation into Shivat Zion, the government appears to have taken no action whatsoever – and has even refused to explicitly condemn the organisation.
Meanwhile, Shivat Zion responded to our findings by posting a video online, claiming that the undercover investigation was a “trap” to make it “look as if we tried to convince people to make Aliyah, specifically to Judea and Samaria, which is simply not true”.
The video says: “We are an apolitical organisation and work in accordance with Israeli law. But if someone has decided on a specific city in Israel, we help them. It’s their individual decision.” RELATED Exposed: Israeli operation to help Brits move to West Bank Despite being registered in Israel, Shivat Zion’s website invited supporters to direct their donations via UK Toremet Ltd – based near London – and claim UK Gift Aid in the process.
In an email seen by Declassified , a representative from Shivat Zion claimed that donations “go through” the UK Toremet charity, explaining that this “ensures the donations properly reach Shivat Zion”.
If money were to be received this way, it could mean that support for illegal settlers could potentially benefit from British tax subsidies.
But when questioned by Declassified , UK Toremet claimed it has no “active” relationship with Shivat Zion and hadn’t given any grants to the organisation in the last 12 months.
We were unable to verify this claim, but donors to Shivat Zion would have been under the impression that their money would go via UK Toremet in order to benefit from Gift Aid.
Responding to our findings last month, a spokesperson for the Charity Commission said: “We are assessing if any information published gives rise to new concerns about UK Toremet Limited.”
But four weeks on, the commission has still not announced any updates.
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