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Sunday, June 2, 2013

Bill Clinton takes a cool half-million from Jewish National Fund for speech in Israel

by Philip Weiss on June 2, 2013

The scandal that is never a scandal in the American press. Bill Clinton's foundation has been given $500,000 by the   Jewish National Fund(US IRS tax-exempt charter), which has long been involved in taking Palestinian land and giving it to Jews. Is Hillary running for president? Where does she expect to raise her money? Will she ever oppose Jewish colonization in Palestine?

Thanks for the Times of Israel, and Aaron Kalman (and h/t Jeff Klein):

The Jewish National Fund has paid former US president Bill Clinton $500,000 for a 45-minute speech at the Peres Academic Center in Rehovot on June 17 in honor of the Israeli president’s 90th birthday.

Guests were last week sent invitations requiring them to stump up NIS 3,000 (just over $800) apiece to attend the gala dinner, and thus to help cover his fee, but that requirement has now been canceled.

The fee is not destined for Clinton’s personal account, but will rather be paid to the William J. Clinton Foundation (IRS tax-exempt foundation charter, sheltering $57M+), which encourages awareness of environmental protection and public health along with projects promoting those causes...

The cover charge for the gala dinner in Rehovot was canceled after Peres stated he wouldn’t attend the event if it functioned as a fundraiser. “No fundraising will take place that evening, and no payment will be requested from any of its participants,” the Peres Academic Center, which is hosting the event, told the Haaretz daily Sunday.

As a result, the JNF and Peres Academic Center in Rehovot will absorb the costs, Yedioth Ahronoth reported, noting that the sum was transferred to Clinton nearly a year in advance to guarantee his participation.

 Mondoweiss