An investigation by Kikar HaShabbat has found that while Israel's Tax Authority moves to strip Section 46 tax-benefit approval from dozens of yeshivas and Torah institutions over students who have not regularized their military service status, no comparable action has been taken against organizations that publicly expressed solidarity with a Palestinian group designated as a terror organization in Israel, even though those organizations continue to hold the same tax approval.
In recent weeks, the Tax Authority has begun proceedings to revoke Section 46 approval for dozens of yeshivas and religious institutions whose students are subject to the draft and have not regularized their status with military authorities. The move follows a position taken by the Attorney General that the state should stop granting tax benefits to donors supporting institutions whose students have not regularized their status, on the grounds that doing so amounts to indirect funding of those institutions' activity.
According to Kikar HaShabbat's investigation, the organizations Physicians for Human Rights Israel and the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, both of which hold Section 46 approval, published statements of solidarity last year with the Palestinian organization Al-Haq, which was designated a terror organization by Israel's defense minister in 2021 after being found linked to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. That designation remains in effect. The US government later imposed sanctions on Al-Haq alongside two other Palestinian organizations.
Following the US sanctions, Physicians for Human Rights Israel published a statement saying it stood in full solidarity with its colleagues and partners working for human rights between the Jordan River and the sea, and that it would not be silenced or intimidated. The Association for Civil Rights in Israel similarly issued a statement describing the US sanctions against Al-Haq as a corrupt and illegitimate delegitimization campaign, adding that it stood in solidarity with its Palestinian partner organizations.
The investigation also points to a July 2025 report published by Physicians for Human Rights Israel titled "Genocide in Gaza," which the organization says documents what it describes as systematic Israeli harm to the healthcare system in Gaza and characterizes Israel's conduct in the strip as genocide. The report was distributed primarily in English, aimed at influencing international public opinion during the war. The Association for Civil Rights in Israel, for its part, has been involved in a series of petitions and legal proceedings concerning Israeli wartime policy, including petitions over the detention conditions of security prisoners, among them Nukhba terrorists, and has called for the prosecution of Central Command chief Avi Bluth. Both organizations have also provided legal representation over the years to security detainees and prisoners, with Physicians for Human Rights Israel reportedly leading legal efforts on behalf of medical staff from Gaza detained during the war.
A third organization named in the investigation, Jaffa Theater, also holds Section 46 approval. The theater has staged works by playwright Einat Weizman in recent years, two of which the Finance Ministry's legal advisor determined contained messages constituting support for terrorism. About two months ago, the theater staged another Weizman work addressing allegations of starvation in Gaza. In a social media post, Weizman wrote that Israel is deliberately starving the strip's residents and described it as, in her words, a deliberate policy of using food as a means of control. Beyond its Section 46 status, Jaffa Theater is expected to receive more than half a million shekels in Culture Ministry support in 2026, alongside provisions under Israel's Nakba Law, which allows the state in certain cases to withhold support from bodies engaged in incitement to violence or terrorism, or in denying Israel's existence as a Jewish and democratic state.
Following the organizations' activity, real-time complaints were filed with the Tax Authority, Authority director Shai Aharonovich, and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, demanding a review of their continued eligibility for Section 46 approval. The complaints were filed by the Betzalmo organization through its CEO, Shai Glick.
Knesset Finance Committee chairman MK Chanoch Dov Milwidsky told Kikar HaShabbat that he looks forward to the day legal authorities scrutinize left-wing organizations that support terrorism the way they scrutinize Torah institutions, though he said he does not fool himself into thinking that will happen soon. Milwidsky said the Tax Authority is conducting a review regarding the organizations named, though he said no further details could be shared at this stage. He added that the Knesset recess makes it difficult to hold a dedicated Finance Committee discussion on the matter without broad consensus, which he does not expect to be reached, though he said a future discussion of Section 46 approvals for nonprofits could be an opportunity to press the Tax Authority for answers regarding claims of unequal enforcement.
The Tax Authority told Kikar HaShabbat that due to confidentiality requirements under tax law, it does not comment on reviews conducted regarding public institutions approved under Section 46 of the Income Tax Ordinance, and that its response should not be read as confirming or denying the existence of any review concerning the organizations named in the inquiry.
Physicians for Human Rights Israel said in response that the organization reports its activity and financial conduct to the Registrar of Non-Profit Organizations in accordance with legal requirements. The Association for Civil Rights in Israel and Jaffa Theater had not responded by the time of the original report's publication.
