Justice Ministry Recommends Peace Now Be Dismantled

From The Jerusalem Post:

Peace Now, an extra-parliamentary organization which promotes a two-state solution, has been accused by a department of the Justice Ministry of violating the law, Channel 2 reported on Monday.

According to the report, an investigation conducted by the government found that Peace Now broke the law by using money earmarked for an educational non-profit organization to fund political activities.

In the past few days, the department published its findings in a report which details the illicit activities, and has recommended that the government take action and possibly dismantle the organization. However, due to staff changes in the department, the process was expected to be delayed, the Channel 2 report said.

In the meantime, the implication of the findings were that Peace Now does not have the proper administration certificates. As a result, the organization will immediately begin to have problems with fund raising in the United States due to the fact that donations will no longer be considered tax-deductible, the Channel 2 report concluded.

Problems with Peace Now's documentation were brought to light last year. See Arutz Sheva's article about ShalomNow.com (Hebrew):

In response to an earlier suit by [Aryeh] King [founder of ShalomNow.com] against Peace Now demanding an award for damages, [Peace Now co-founder Tzali] Reshef said that Peace Now cannot be sued because it is not technically a legally-recognized association. King then countered with a suit demanding that Peace Now be erased from all the cases it itself brought against Jewish interests in Judea and Samaria.

"If it can't be sued, then it can't sue," King says. He expresses astonishment that the State Prosecution - headed until last week by Peace Now co-founder Eran Shendar - never "realized" that the many court suits filed over the years by Peace Now were illegal.

It is too much to hope that Peace Now will be dismantled, especially when it serves as such an effective tool of foreign governments who are opposed to Israel's best interests.

Technorati Tag: Peace Now.