In addition to such an effort being problematic for Israel and for many Americans on multiple levels, it should also prove toxic for OneVoice. Again, that boring, tricky Internal Revenue Code may be what brings down OneVoice.
When the State Dept. thought it was washing its hands of difficulties because its grant to OneVoice ran out at the end of November, the problem simply switched to a different track.
501(c)(3)S BARRED FROM ATTEMPTING TO INFLUENCE OR CHANGE (EVEN FOREIGN) LAWS
You see, the Internal Revenue Code bars tax-exempt status from any non-profit that seeks to change or influence the laws of either the U.S. or that of any foreign country.
This bar is categorical. “An organization that attempts to influence and advocates changes in the laws of a foreign country does not qualify for exemption from Federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of the Code.”
On Jan. 29, Psaki flat-out admitted that the State Department grants to OneVoice were given to support “efforts to support a two-state solution.”
THE WHOLE GOAL OF ONEVOICE IS TO CHANGE ISRAELI LAW
OneVoice admits this is the goal of its activity. Its mission statement explains that OneVoice “amplifies the voice of mainstream Israelis and Palestinians, empowering them to propel their elected representatives toward the two-state solution.”
OneVoice explains that “an emphasis on the risks” of a “two-state solution” and “the compromises it entails” has led to a reluctance to push past those risks. But OneVoice is there to “mobilize Palestinians to end the occupation” and provide the “opportunities and tools to build momentum for a peace agreement and #2StatesNOW.”
Of further interest is that the OneVoice website donation page, readers are now informed that those interested in making donations may do so either through the Peaceworks Foundation or the Peaceworks Action, Inc. The latter is a 501(c)(4), and as such donations made to that arm of OneVoice/Peaceworks is not tax-deductible. However, below that information we learn that Peaceworks Action, Inc. is brand new, so there is no Annual Report for that arm of Peaceworks for 2014 or any time before that. Recall that the State Department grant was for the year 2013 – 2014.
On several fronts and in several different ways, the launch of an American-style, American funded guerrilla campaign to take down the sitting prime minister of one of America’s closest allies may not succeed in achieving that goal, but the attention it drew should lead to the funding source’s loss of tax-exempt status.
It took down Al Capone. Now, with the bipartisan congressional committee finally examining its activities, the tax code may be what takes down V15/OneVoice/Peaceworks.
