Google allegedly matches donations to charities supporting Israeli soldiers & illegal settlements
"Google matches donations to charities supporting Israeli soldiers and illegal settlements", 4 December 2024
Google has been matching donations made by its employees across the world to pro-Israeli charities in the US, including one supporting Israeli soldiers who are fighting in Gaza, and a Christian Zionist group that aims to help Israel “reclaim” the West Bank.
Leaked internal webpages seen by Middle East Eye show that Google has helped facilitate donations to a non-profit organisation called Friends of the Israeli Defence Forces (FIDF) and HaYovel, an organisation that sends volunteers to work on farms in illegal settlements on occupied Palestinian land.
The tech giant allows its employees to donate a percentage of their salary to causes of their choice through a corporate giving platform called Benevity, a Canadian-based company which counts some of the biggest corporations in the US among its customers.
Google then matches those donations.
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Since the Hamas-led attacks in southern Israel and the launch of Israel’s war in Gaza, the FIDF has reportedly claimed to have fundraised at least $34.5 million in support for Israeli soldiers and has said it “is funding the majority of support that IDF soldiers are receiving, distributed across the entire military, to reach more soldiers than any other organisation”.
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HaYovel, a Christian Zionist organisation based in Missouri, says its goal is to help further the “prophetic tradition” of a region that “many incorrectly refer to as the West Bank”.
It takes volunteers to tend to farms on Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory, which it refers to as “Judea and Samaria”, and provides training to help participants to “take home the tools you need to become an ambassador for Israel”.
Since 7 October last year, HaYovel has said it has bought $3.5 million worth of security equipment for Israeli settler communities across the West Bank. The non-profit also noted in its promotional material that it is stepping in to help Jewish farmers who may have lost staff because they have enlisted in the Israeli army.
Google employees also have the option to donate to a fundraising platform called IsraelGives through Benevity. Last year, the Guardian reported that IsraelGives allowed US-based donors to donate millions of dollars to causes, including illegal West Bank settlements, paramilitary groups and Israeli military units.
A spokesperson for Google told Middle East Eye the tech-giant had been using Benevity for more than a decade and that Benevity vets organisations listed on its platform.
"For more than 15 years, we've given employees a credit to donate to a charity of their choosing at the end of each year. They can select from more than 200,000 eligible organizations around the world," said the spokesperson.
Benevity had not responded to requests for comment at the time of publication.