United Israel Appeal. Charity channels tax free donations direct to IDF soldiers

Since 2013, more than $400 million in tax-deductible donations have been channeled through an Australian charity, including donations directly to IDF soldiers. Stephanie Tran reports.

United Israel Appeal (UIA) Australia According to ACNC’s financial disclosures, it wired $376 million to Israel through its global partner Keren Hayesod.

UIA Australia received $50.9 million in tax-deductible donations and sponsorships in 2024 alone.

Financial statements Keren HayesodThe Israel-based organization, which receives and distributes UIA funds, says it received A$323 million in global donations in 2024, with 98.5% of those coming from abroad.

On this basis, fundraising efforts in Australia accounted for around 13% of Keren Hayesod’s global donor base last year.

“Every dollar is aligned with Israel’s national priorities”

At the UIA Victoria AGM in November 2025, UIA leadership made a clear statement about the organisation’s role in Israel. UIA Victoria president David Slade told members:

“We are the only organization in Australia that raises funds for Israel and has a seat at every table of decision-making authorities tasked with rebuilding the country from north to south.”

We are proud that every dollar we distribute is aligned with Israel’s national priorities.

Julian Black, the outgoing federal treasurer of the UIA, reported that $39.2 million had been sent to Israel nationally in the 2025 campaign through mid-November, including $14.4 million from Victoria.

UIA Australia explains Its main mission is to promote aliyah, or “ascension,” a reference to Jewish immigration to Israel, and to strengthen Israeli society. They state that they “raised funds in Australia and transferred them directly to Keren Hayesod-UIA.”

Keren HayesodFounded in 1920, the company describes itself as “the leading worldwide fundraising arm for the people of Israel” with operations in dozens of countries. UIA Australia acts as the Australian partner, funneling hundreds of millions of dollars in tax-deductible donations to the fund.

At the 2025 AGM Slade said:

“This is not a theory. This is a delivery. National in scale, national in scope. It is aligned with Israel’s priorities and is carried out by our global partners.”

Revealed: Australian taxpayers funding IDF, illegal settlements in Israel

Support for “lone immigrant soldiers”

Among the programs supported by UIA in Australia are “lonely immigrant soldiers”, individuals who immigrated to Israel and served in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) without immediate family support in the country.

UIA partners with the Jewish Agency for Israel through its “Wings Program” to provide grants and assistance to immigrant IDF soldiers. UIA states that they support 2,200 lone immigrant soldiers in 2024.

According to a report According to data compiled by the Knesset, there were 6,731 lone soldiers serving in the IDF in August 2024.

At the same General Assembly meeting, Slade announced that his own son was currently serving as a lone soldier in the IDF and described himself as a “lifelong Zionist”.

UIA also funds the Net@ program, which provides technology training to young people. Promotional materials for the program state that graduates are “strong candidates for elite IDF units.”

Lone Soldiers. New Australian IDF soldiers will arrive in Israel in January

Foreign financing networks and settlement connections

in 2022 Pastor Larry Huch For Keren Hayesod, he raised $8 million through his ministry to help “settlements take over production farms in the West Bank.”

“One of the main prophecies in the Bible is to help Jews return to the nation of Israel, so we started working with Keren Hayesod on projects like making aliyah. We’re helping settlements take over produce farms in the West Bank of Judea and Samaria,” Hutch said.

According to a analysis By Canadian human rights organization Defenders of a Just Peace, UIA Canada’s public records show that funds tied to the broader Keren Hayesod network supported organizations assisting IDF veterans and institutions based in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

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Comparable program-level details were not disclosed in the Australian ACNC files collecting the transfers to Keren Hayesod. UIA Australia did not respond to questions about whether they had oversight of what initiatives were supported by the funds they provided to Keren Kayesod and whether they carried out due diligence to ensure that these programs were compliant. Non-ACNC Standards of Conduct and DGR conditions.

A charity active in the genocide

UIA’s fundraising efforts took place during the Gaza genocide and the escalation of violence in the occupied Palestinian territories.

A. January 2026 report The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights found that Israeli laws, policies and practices create “stifling” conditions for Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

The report said there has been an “unprecedented deterioration in the human rights situation” since October 2023, as the Israeli government “further expanded the unlawful use of force, arbitrary detention and torture, repression of civil society and excessive restrictions on media freedoms, severe movement restrictions, settlement expansion and related violations in the occupied West Bank.”

Chris Sidoti, commissioner of the UN Commission of Inquiry on Palestine and Israel, said in his speech at the National Press Club: stated In light of the Commission’s finding that Israel committed genocide in Gaza,

Anyone who served in any branch of the Israeli army in Gaza should be considered a suspect.

UIA CEO Yair Miller previously said: MWM “The United Israel Call is fully compliant with Australian law”. They did not respond to a follow-up request for comment regarding the issues discussed in this article.

Australian charity removes fundraisers for IDF and West Bank settlements

Stephanie is a journalist with a background in both law and journalism. He worked at The Guardian and as a paralegal, where he assisted Crikey’s defense team in the high-profile libel case brought by Lachlan Murdoch. His reporting has been recognized nationally, earning him the 2021 Guardians of Democracy Award for Student Investigative Reporting and a nomination for the 2021 Walkley Student Journalist of the Year Award.