U.S. Policy and Tax Breaks at Odds on West Bank Settlements

American nonprofit organizations have collected more than $200-million in tax-exempt donations in the past decade to help Israeli settlers sustain neighborhoods in the West Bank, providing what amounts to a U.S. subsidy for settlements that the federal government seeks to end, The New York Times writes.

Money raised by more than 40 U.S. charities that support the settlements has mostly paid for recreation centers, schools, synagogues, and similar facilities, but some tax-deductible gifts have gone toward housing, security equipment, and vehicles for outposts deep in the occupied territories, according to a Times examination of public records in Israel and America.

The settlements have been opposed by successive U.S. administrations, which view them as an obstacle to the creation of a Palestinian state. The U.S. government has barred Israel from spending American aid on them. The topic is likely to be a central issue when President Obama meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington today.

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