Foundation of Jared Kushner’s parents donated tens of thousands of dollars to West Bank groups
Published December 5, 2016
Jared Kushner attending the premiere of “A Film Unfinished” at MOMA – Celeste Bartos Theater in New York City, Aug. 11, 2010. (Jason Kempin/Getty Images)
JERUSALEM (JTA) — The charitable foundation of the parents of Jared Kushner, son-in-law of President-elect Donald Trump, has donated tens of thousands of dollars to West Bank groups and institutions, an Israeli newspaper reported.
The Charles and Seryl Kushner Foundation has given a few million dollars a year to charitable causes, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported, citing the foundation’s tax forms for 2010-14, with an average donation of between $5,000 and $10,000.
Jared Kushner and his three siblings sit on the foundation board.
Among the West Bank organizations and institutions that receive funding are the American Friends of Beit El Yeshiva, with a $20,000 donation in 2013; the Etzion Foundation, which supports Yeshivat Har Etzion, Kibbutz Migdal Oz and the Herzog College teachers’ training institution, all located in the Gush Etzion settlement bloc, with two donations totaling $15,000, and Ohr Torah Stone, headquartered in the Efrat settlement, with $5,000.
The foundation has also donated to other Israeli institutions. In 2014, it pledged $18 million to the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, in addition to $2 million it had committed earlier. The foundation also pledged $315,000 over the course of three years to the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces, and Jared Kushner sits on the group’s board.
Other Israeli institutions supported by the foundation, according to Haaretz, include the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra, $2,500; the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem, $1,000; the United Hatzalah rescue service, $70,000; the Israel Cancer Research Fund, $10,000; Meir Panim Lachayal, which supports Israeli soldiers, $4,000; the Shalva Children’s Center in Jerusalem, $20,000; Maayanei Yeshua Hospital, $25,000, and the Rabin Medical Center, $23,000.
The foundation also supports American Jewish organizations including Jewish day schools, charities and cultural centers, according to the Haaretz report. Among the groups are $30,000 to Chabad institutions, $250,000 to the Ramaz School in Manhattan, and $20,000 to Kehillat Jeshurun, a synagogue on the Upper West Side of New York whose rabbi, Haskel Lookstein, oversaw the conversion of Ivanka Trump before her marriage to Jared Kushner.
