Above photo: Zvi Bar Yosef (middle) and his youth volunteers following anti-settlement activists, on September 23, 2024. Omri Eran Vardi.
Budget documents show how the JNF supports the same violent Israeli settlers who were recently sanctioned by the Biden administration.
Advocates say the organization itself should come under U.S. government scrutiny as well.
For more than a century, the Jewish National Fund (JNF) has raised money in the United States and around the world to acquire land for Jewish-only settlements in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. In recent years, more than $1 million of that money has flowed towards people and projects that have since been sanctioned by the United States government for their violence against Palestinians, according to Israeli financial documents reviewed by Mondoweiss.
A registered 501(c)(3) in the United States with 40 offices around the world and its international headquarters based in Jerusalem, the Jewish National Fund owns approximately 15 percent of the land in historic Palestine, including large areas of the occupied West Bank — and this, despite the fact that settlements on occupied lands are illegal under international law.
The organization’s ties to several sanctions targets came to the fore after former U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration announced its first round of financial penalties last February, which have since spread to 33 Israeli settlers or organizations. Budget documents obtained by the Israeli watchdog group Peace Now through a public records request and shared with Mondoweiss shed additional light on how the nonprofit organization disbursed those funds — as advocates denounce the organization’s complicity in extremist Israeli settler violence.
‘The very definition of ethnic cleansing’
Founded in 1901, the JNF’s stated goal is to “ensure a strong, secure, and prosperous future for the land and people of Israel.” The methods it uses to meet this goal include supporting the immigration of diaspora Jews to Israel and promoting Zionist education abroad. In its appeal for financial support, JNF makes clear its expansionist aims: “Israel’s population cannot remain concentrated on a vulnerable coastal plain, and a vibrant north and south should be attractive new frontiers for Israeli families,” its website reads. Founded during the British mandate of Palestine, the group has chapters in countries including the United States and Canada.
In 2023, JNF’s financial statement shows that it funded Israeli settlement projects in the occupied West Bank to the tune of $10 million, up from the almost $9 million it spent on settlements a year earlier. The Jewish National Fund notably supports settlement outposts at a time of their rapid expansion across the West Bank, with a record high of 26 new outposts developed in 2023 out of a total of 224 known to exist today. The outposts take varying forms: small homes, parked minivans, or farms with undefined boundaries that are illegal under both international and Israeli law. They are distinct from settlements, which are formal communities that are considered legal by Israel despite being illegal under international law. However, the Israeli government has taken steps to reclassify some outposts as neighborhoods, thus making them legal under Israeli law.
Activists have long raised the alarm about JNF’s funding of settler outposts. In 2011, a coalition of pro-Palestine groups wrote a letter to the IRS demanding that the U.S. government revoke JNF-USA’s tax-exempt status, arguing that the group’s Israeli arm racially discriminates against Palestinians by expelling them from their land to then sell it to Israeli citizens.
In November 2024, the Shut Down the JNF campaign protested outside the organization’s annual conference in Dallas. Deb Armintor, a Jewish resident and protest participant, told local Dallas news: “The JNF is holding a… to garner support for the apartheid state of Israel, which is waging an illegal campaign of mass destruction in Gaza.” Armintor added that the JNF is responsible for seizing Palestinian land to create a majority Jewish state. “That’s the very definition of ethnic cleansing. We reject any organization that invokes our sacred organization of Judaism to justify the expulsion of Palestinians from their land, to justify ethnic cleansing.”
The expansion of Israeli settlements is part of a larger project to carry out the ethnic cleansing of Arabs “with arms, protection, and support from U.S. armed occupational army,” said Bill Dores, a longtime member of Al Awda, a U.S.-based organization that signed on to the 2011 effort to revoke the JNF’s status. “Now they dream of grabbing and selling land in Gaza and Lebanon as well,” he told Mondoweiss.
In July, Canada revoked the organization’s tax-exempt status after an audit revealed its use of donations to support infrastructure projects for the Israeli military. JNF appealed the decision to the Canadian higher courts, but lost its attempt to overturn the ruling in November.
‘At-risk’ youth unleashed onto Palestinian communities
But the JNF’s activities are not simply limited to land grabs. Among its stated goals is outreach to “at-risk” Israeli youth — who, in fact, represent a serious risk to the lives and security of Palestinians.
According to the financial documents obtained by Peace Now, the Jewish National Fund has provided both money and land for outposts to which “at-risk” teens are recruited. The documents seen by Mondoweiss show that the JNF spent nearly $1.3 million on efforts to recruit such youth to illegal settlement outposts from January 2021 to January 2023.
The document, prepared by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s office in 2022 on behalf of the JNF, asks the Ministry of Agriculture to disburse JNF funds to six outposts between 2022 and 2024. The funding would be used to recruit youth volunteers to the farms and provide “security presence” for their outposts, in exchange for the farms educating the youth about Zionism — including its biblical history, geographical claims, and military battles in the West Bank. The Agriculture Ministry signed off on the distribution of the funds in June 2022, the records show.
While the JNF’s contributions to the farms predate U.S. sanctions, they came at a time when the violence of its beneficiaries was already well known. In February 2024, the organization distanced itself from the people and outposts impacted by sanctions, telling the Associated Press that it supported “only the at-risk youths.” The group’s financial records covering the months since the sanctions were imposed have not yet been made public.
“The JNF can say that they send money to outposts to support troubled youth. It is hard to say that they publicly support settler violence, but the history of violence is documented,” Peace Now Executive Director Hagit Ofran told Mondoweiss.
An American sociologist studying Israeli settler violence in the occupied West Bank explained to Mondoweiss the role the “at-risk” youth play in Israel’s settler colonial project.
“Many of these boys have behavioral problems or dropped out of school in their teens. The Israeli government works with settlement organizations recruiting young boys to outposts and volunteer on the illegal farms. In exchange, they receive professional training, education about Zionism, and a free living space,” the sociologist, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said. “It is being sold as a rehabilitative program to the public. The reality is that their behavioral problems are encouraged to scare Palestinians off their land so the outposts can expand into becoming legalized settlements.”
In October, the U.S. imposed sanctions on the Hilltop Youth, a loosely organized group notorious for expelling Palestinians from their homes, citing two violent attacks in 2023 and 2024. The group was already under sanctions in the European Union.
The JNF did not respond to questions from Mondoweiss for this article about how it spends its funds.
Large sums for violent outposts
Financial documents on the JNF website show that JNF allocated $634,000 between 2021 and 2023 to an organization that funds at least one now-sanctioned settler outpost, as well as $259,000 between 2022 and 2023 for youth recruitment at a farm run by another now-sanctioned settler. These two outposts have long been notorious for settler violence against Palestinians living in the area.
One of the JNF’s beneficiaries is Artzenu, an organization also known as Shivat Zion Lerigvy Admata, which recruits volunteers to work at a number of outposts. JNF contributed 537,570 shekels ($149,000) to an Artzenu project in 2021 that would, amongst other aims, “raise the self-esteem” of youth living on outpost farms. The group received a new round of funding for 1.75 million shekels (just over $485,000) in late 2023, according to the documents obtained by Peace Now.
One of the outposts collaborating with Artzenu is Emek Tirza, also known as Moshe’s Farm. Moshe’s Farm was established by settler Moshe Sharvitz in 2021 in the Jordan Valley. Sharvitz has a longstanding reputation for threatening and attacking Palestinian civilians and their livestock near the outpost for several years, primarily using his ATV. In March 2024, the Biden administration sanctioned Sharvitz and his farm, describing it as “a base from which he perpetuates violence against Palestinians.”
Ayesha Shtayyeh, a Palestinian woman whose home in Humsa Al-Tahta is about 800 meters from the outpost, said that Sharvitz has repeatedly intimidated her over the years. In 2023, Sharvitz pointed a gun to her head and demanded that she leave the place she has called home for 50 years. “I never did anything to him. I don’t understand what I have done to deserve this hell,” she told Mondoweiss.
In February 2024, Shavitz hosted an open day at his outpost. On camera, he described how outposts like his are effective in seizing Palestinian land: “The biggest regret when we [settlers] built settlements was that we got stuck within the fences and couldn’t expand,” he told the crowd. “The farm is very important, but the most important thing for us is the surrounding area.”
The Jewish National Fund also allocated 750,000 shekels ($207,000) to Lechatchila Farm east of Jerusalem in January 2022 and a further 187,000 shekels ($52,000) in 2023 for youth recruitment for the farm.
Lechatchila Farm is run by Zvi Bar Yosef, who was sanctioned by the U.S. in March after Palestinian residents and activists recorded multiple incidents of settler violence in the villages of Umm Safa and Wadi Qelt. Yosef’s outpost is affiliated with Hashomer Yosh, a far-right Ultra-Orthodox organization that was also sanctioned by the U.S. Pictures on the Hashomer Yosh website shows Yosef with his youth volunteers posing with military grade weapons.
One video posted by Israeli human rights group B’tselem shows Bar Yosef and youth settlers taking their livestock to graze on village land in Um Safa. When villagers told the settlers to leave, Yosef threw rocks and threatened the Palestinians with his rifle. He later assisted the Israeli military in throwing tear gas at the villagers.
In July 2023, a Palestinian family filed a complaint with Israeli authorities against Bar Yosef and his youth volunteers, accusing them of carrying out violent attacks against them. In a court hearing, Bar Yosef claimed he was not responsible for the youth volunteers on his farm, without providing an explanation.
“The settlers are the first line in the occupation’s ethnic cleansing practices,” said Mariam, an activist volunteering with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), a Palestinian-led group that uses nonviolent direct action to resist the Israeli occupation.
“The military, the settlers, the Civil Administration [the Israeli military body governing the occupied West Bank] are all one of the same groups,” she told Mondoweiss. “The JNF supports these groups with money because it benefits their mission to make new settlements. I’ve been doing this work for more than two years and each time is worse… Settlers become soldiers, and the settlers come with other soldiers and teenagers and make life dangerous for Palestinians. Then one day, that outpost becomes a settlement and Palestinians are forced out.”
Several investigations by Israeli newspaper Haaretz into the Israeli government’s financing of settler violence in the West Bank also looked at the Jewish National Fund’s role as a “significant supporter” of settler violence, including through its financial ties with Artzenu. According to Haaretz, more than 200 Israeli teenagers participate in the JNF’s “youth rehabilitation” programs throughout the West Bank.
The JNF reportedly froze its funding to Artzenu after these investigations came out. Neither the JNF nor Artzenu responded to Mondoweiss’ request for comment regarding the status of their current partnership.
But Peace Now’s Hagit Ofran is not convinced that the JNF has fully severed its ties with groups that support violent settlers.
“There are very few groups who work in the West Bank to recruit youth settlers to the outpost farms. The JNF is a critical piece because they have existed for this purpose since 1901. The farmers rely on at-risk youth volunteering for their settlement activities. It is very important for them to have the boys there and receive funding from somewhere,” Ofran explained. “It is hard to know what happens after the sanctions because they [the JNF] move quickly and quietly when they find themselves in trouble. We will only be able to find out months from now when financial records become public in the Israeli system.”
U.S. complacency — and complicity
In November, State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller pointed to the U.S.’s sanctions against 33 Israeli settlers in the span of 10 months as proof of the U.S.’s commitment to ending extreme settler violence. During the press briefing, he told reporters: “There is no justification for extremist violence against civilians – period. We are committed to working with Israel and the Palestinian Authority to de-escalate violence in the West Bank, which has cost the lives of too many Israeli and Palestinian civilians.”
Yet the Biden administration was thoroughly criticized by the American and international public for failing to put an end the Israeli genocide in Gaza since October 2023. Activists also say former President Joe Biden’s executive-ordered sanctions have failed to prevent extremist settler violence in the West Bank.
“The sanctions are a good first step, but they have not stopped settlers from being violent. They are more cautious, but we Palestinians are still being attacked and we are being killed everyday,” Sami Huraini, a Palestinian activist from Masafer Yatta, told Mondoweiss.
Anti-settlement activists told Mondoweiss that Yosef and his hilltop youth have continued to harass and attack Palestinian Bedouin communities since the sanctions were put in place.
“The sanctions might have financially restricted the settlers and the settlers may be unable to travel, but the sanctions have in fact emboldened settlers to continue their activities. It is a defiance that comes from an ideology and movement they already believe in,” the activists said on condition of anonymity.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) recorded more than 1,400 incidents of Israeli settler violence in the occupied West Bank in 2024, compared to 1,225 incidents in 2023. This marked the most violent year on record, as arson attacks, violent altercations with weapons, destruction of agricultural lands, and raids of Palestinian communities and homes increased in frequency and violence since October 7, 2023.
“In addition to to the seemingly limitless flow of U.S. arms to the Israeli occupation forces to commit genocide, the flow of tax-exempt private funds to the Zionist state is a major source of its revenue,” Dores said.
“Even if they [the JNF] cut ties with one settler, they are already working with others and are using Israeli municipalities to give out funds without being directly connected to them [the sanctioned settlers]. They should also be sanctioned but haven’t yet. The U.S. does not make that process clear,” Ofran said.
Even as the Biden administration targeted certain settlers in the occupied West Bank, it did not penalize groups like JNF that support the expansion of illegal settlements. House Democrats introduced further legislation in mid-December to sanction Israeli settlers who commit acts of violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. The attempt to codify the Sanctions and Accountability for Non-Compliance and Transparent Investigative Oversight for National Security (SANCTIONS) in the West Bank Act was seen as a last-ditch effort to stop land theft before Donald Trump, who has shown near-absolute unconditional support for Israel, was inaugurated on January 20. Just hours after entering office, however, Trump signed an executive order overturning the sanctions on Zvi Bar Yosef and the 32 other violent Israeli settlers and settler organization the Biden administration had put in place just months before.
Palestinians in the West Bank fear Trump’s second presidency means more impunity for Israeli settlers and groups associated with extreme violence against Palestinians. Trump has been a longstanding donor to the JNF, and contributed $10,000 towards the settlement of Beit El in 2003. In 1983, he was the recipient of the Jewish National Fund Tree of Life Award for his financial contribution to Israeli settlements.
Trump’s pick for the role of US ambassador to Israel is former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, who has repeatedly publicly supported Israeli expansion in the occupied West Bank over the years. Israeli settlers and officials have not hidden their hopes that Trump will support partial or total Israeli annexation of the West Bank, which is home to three million Palestinians, in violation of international law.
Yet for many Palestinians, Trump’s second term in office makes little difference.
“It doesn’t matter who the president is. Every American president supports Israel. No one supports Palestine. We are defending the land against the settlers. It was the worst with Biden and will be even more worse under Trump. It will only stop when occupation and genocide stops,” Huraini said.