A British charity has been funding a Jewish religious school located in an illegal settlement in Hebron, according to the UK government's Charity Commission. Friends of Yeshivat Shavei Hevron transferred almost £200,000 ($267,000) to the Hebron Yeshiva between 2019 and 2024, as per figures on the regulator's website.
Expansion of the Yeshiva
The school received approval for a new dormitory in June after Israel's Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich broke an agreement on planning authority in the city. Parts of the expansion are already complete, and the Israeli military has built an outpost on top of a Palestinian house next to the site. This expansion will increase the settlement's population, which is isolated from local Palestinians by an Israeli military-run complex of fences, walls, and checkpoints.
Activists Condemn Funding
Nadav Weiman, executive director of Breaking the Silence, a group of Israeli combat veterans documenting military abuses in occupied Palestine, stated that students at the yeshiva are known for violence, including stone-throwing at Palestinians. "If communities fund that dormitory, they are funding more violence, funding the next wave that will bring death to Palestinian families and Israeli families," he said. "Everything that happens in Hebron first, happens elsewhere afterwards."
Issa Amro, a Palestinian human rights activist and co-founder of Youth Against Settlements, added: "We want British charities to fund peace, not to fund obstacles for peace. This is very wrong. The students at this yeshiva are very aggressive. A new building will mean more violence toward Palestinians, more restrictions, more Israeli military presence."
Impact on Palestinians
Hagit Ofran, from the Israeli advocacy group Peace Now, highlighted that "for this yeshiva to exist, thousands of Palestinians have already lost their shops, their housing and their daily livelihood in the heart of a Palestinian city. The new dormitory is a significant development because they are adding more settlers in Hebron, the most extreme settlement, where apartheid is everywhere."
Financial Details and Legal Questions
In 2023, Friends of Yeshivat Shavei Hevron donated £58,200 to the school and claimed £2,000 in gift aid from the government, despite its website claiming it is not registered for the incentive scheme. In 2024, it sent £21,360. The charity's website states its aims are to fund education "in the state of Israel," but Hebron Yeshiva is not in Israel. Israel has not defined its borders, and the UK, which recognized Palestine last year, considers Hebron part of Palestinian territory.
Friends of Yeshivat Shavei Hevron is one of 32 charities identified by UK Labour MP Melanie Ward as having donated about £28 million to Israeli settlements in recent years. UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said last month that "charity systems are abused to funnel support to illegal settlements" and that "some evidence suggests that rules are being broken." She said the Charity Commission had been asked to investigate links between charities and settlements. The Guardian reported that information was passed to the Metropolitan Police, but no investigation is underway.
Broader Funding Network
The Charity Commission stated: "This remains a complex and contentious issue, which touches on wider legal principles about charities' right to operate and support the most vulnerable, in parts of the world in which there may be conflict, contested jurisdiction or lawlessness." Hebron Yeshiva receives funding globally, including from other states where settlements are illegal. In the US, Israeli tech firm IsraelGives crowdfunds for settlement-based businesses. In the UK, Friends of Yeshivat Shavei Hevron provides a Barclays Bank account for donations. A Barclays spokesperson said it has policies for legal and regulatory obligations but could not comment on individual customers. Friends of Yeshivat Shavei Hevron was approached for comment.
