editorials
Israel Bonds’ Bad Business Decision
Expanding Incentives for Charitable Giving
G iving to charity is a meaningful and rewarding
way to build and strengthen community. Studies
indicate that in addition to the benefi t of knowing
that their donations help support the important work
of charitable institution and programs, donors feel
better about themselves when they are able to help
others through charitable donations.

Our community is fortunate to have a wide range
of nonprofi t institutions that serve our community
in a variety of meaningful ways, including as a
local safety net for our most vulnerable. Our local
charities provide social, cultural, educational and
religious support for members of our community
and are able to provide neighborhoods and families
with lifesaving support and assistance in situations
where government benefi ts may not be available or
are diffi cult to access. In addition, many of our local
institutions have links to national and international
10 MARCH 9, 2023 | JEWISH EXPONENT
organizations that are poised to respond to a
wide range of needs and crises that develop all
over the world.

The more we can incentivize charitable giving,
the better our world will be. It is for that reason
that we were pleased to learn last week of the
bipartisan Charitable Act introduced by 11 U.S.

senators. The legislation seeks to expand tax
deductions for charitable giving by individuals, with
the goal of encouraging higher levels of giving to
charitable organizations, houses of worship and
religious institutions.

Under the act, taxpayers who do not itemize
their deductions will be permitted to claim up to
an additional one-third of the standard deduction
for non-itemizers for their charitable donations. For
2023, that would translate to an increase in the
deduction from the current $300 for individual fi lers
and $600 for married fi lers to a deduction of up to
$4,500 for an individual fi ler and $9,000 for married
couples fi ling jointly. (A similar provision was part of
the CARES Act — a COVID-19 response bill passed
in 2020, which has since lapsed.)
The bill is supported by a wide range of nonprofi ts
from all sectors of the charitable world, including
Jewish Federations of North America. As explained
by Elana Broitman, JFNA’s senior vice president for
public aff airs, “When disaster strikes, when tragedy
hits, when crises befall us, everyday Americans want
to step up and lend a hand, often by supporting the
nonprofi t sector’s vital work.” The Charitable Act will
add a meaningful benefi t for taxpayers to do just
that. They can help nonprofi ts do what they do best,
and get a tax benefi t for their generosity.

The Charitable Act is a win-win proposition. We
encourage prompt passage of the bill. ■
Pool photo by Ronen Zvulun/ UPI
I and homes, Smotrich declared: “I think the
srael Bonds, also known as the
village of Huwara needs to be wiped out. I
Development Corporation for Israel, is the
think the state of Israel should do it.”
U.S. underwriter of debt securities issued
Smotrich’s screed was so alarming and
by the state of Israel. The concept of Israel
profoundly off ensive that the normally
Bonds was inspired by Israel’s fi rst prime
staid State Department spokesperson Ned
minister, David Ben-Gurion, as part of an
Price called the remarks “irresponsible,”
eff ort to engage Diaspora Jewry as partners
“repugnant” and “disgusting.” Price
in the building of the Jewish state through
characterized Smotrich’s comments as
their investment in the fl edgling state’s debt
“amount[ing] to incitement to violence,” and
securities. The enterprise has been very
urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
successful. Since its inception in 1951, Israel
and “senior Israeli offi cials to publicly and
Bonds’ worldwide sales have exceeded
clearly reject and disavow these comments.”
$48 billion, and Israel Bonds have become
None of that seems to faze Israel Bonds.

a staple in many retirement and pension
In a release late last week that appears
accounts of businesses and organizations
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Finance Minister
Bezalel Smotrich hold a news conference on Jan. 25.

oblivious to the swirling controversy
throughout North America.

over Smotrich’s visit and the protests
Given that background, one would expect
it has already attracted, and which will almost
Israel Bonds to be sensitive to Diaspora concerns conference in Washington, D.C., next week.

regarding positions taken, comments expressed
Smotrich is more than a fi rebrand. He is a certainly mount, Israel Bonds doubled down on its
and actions pursued by Israel’s government and its lightning rod. He has been variously described as a decision, asserting that it is “a nonpartisan fi nancial
leaders, as any alienation of Diaspora Jewry could be misogynist, a homophobe, a racist, a bigot, a Jewish organization” and that Smotrich’s visit is part of the
bad for business. And one would expect heightened fundamentalist and a hate-mongering ideologue. history of “Israel fi nance ministers from across the
sensitivity to any embrace by Israel Bonds of an The fact that he is Israel’s fi nance minister changes political spectrum [who] have attended our events.”
The White House recognizes Smotrich’s
extremist or controversial personality within Israel’s none of that. But his high-ranking cabinet position
toxicity and has made clear that U.S. government
government, like the new Finance Minister Bezalel gives him a prominent perch from which to make
Smotrich, whose pronouncements and activities public pronouncements. Thus, last Wednesday, offi cials will not be meeting with him during this
have raised alarm with the Biden administration and following the killing of two Israelis in a terror attack in visit. But Israel Bonds’ plans remain unchanged.

alienated large segments of Diaspora Jewry. But the Palestinian town of Huwara, which was followed The organization’s alignment with Smotrich is
those assumptions and expectations are incorrect. by a mob of hundreds of revenge-seeking settlers morally troubling and is alienating a substantial
Israel Bonds has embraced Smotrich and has who stormed the town, killing one person and portion of Israel Bonds’ investor base. It is a bad
invited him to speak at its national leadership injuring dozens in addition to destroying businesses business decision. ■



opinions & letters
When Israeli Leaders Concentrate
on the Issues …
Jerome M. Marcus
S ome good political news from Israel — yes,
there actually is some.

On the question of whether terrorists with
blood on their hands should be sentenced to death,
the Knesset is working like a legislature whose
parties are motivated by ideas, not a slave-like
commitment to a party and not by Bibi Derangement
Syndrome. The coalition has given its members the right to
vote their conscience, and lo and behold, they are.

The result is that a haredi coalition party is opposing
the coalition’s position because they believe it contra-
venes Jewish law. And Yisrael Beiteinu, normally
devoted above all other things to bringing down the
coalition, is voting with Prime Minister Netanyahu.

with two enormous exceptions: It’s fundamentally
opposed to governmental support for haredi yeshiva
students and their exemption from army service;
and Lieberman, the party’s head, is opposed to
Netanyahu being prime minister (or anything else in
an Israeli government).

But on the issue of executing terrorists with
blood on their hands, Lieberman’s party’s right-
wing principles trump his antipathy to Bibi. Often
in Israel, a party out of power is so eager to make
the ruling coalition fall that it will vote against
even legislation that its members and constituents
believe in because they hope that the legislation’s
failure will destabilize their political adversaries. But
Yisrael Beiteinu attaches sufficient importance to the
imposition of the death penalty on terrorists who’ve
killed Israelis that its members will vote in support of
this coalition-backed bill.

On the question of whether terrorists with blood on their
hands should be sentenced to death, the Knesset is
working like a legislature whose parties are motivated by
ideas, not a slave-like commitment to a party and not by
Bibi Derangement Syndrome.

The haredi party, United Torah Judaism, is taking
a position normally associated with the left: That
judges, at least today, simply don’t have the right to
order the execution of another human being.

For many on the nonreligious left, the taking of
human life is always wrong, no matter what heinous
act was committed by the human whose life is at
stake. For the UTJ Knesset members, the position
is driven by the halachic principle that, since the
Temple was destroyed, Jewish courts don’t have
the right to order execution. The claim is that when
the Messiah comes and the Temple is rebuilt, there
will be such power; but until then, the Jewish people
live without sufficient connection to Heaven to be
entitled to order the death of another human being.

So UTJ will be voting with Labor and the other
left-wing parties that always oppose the death
penalty. UTJ’s votes are being replaced by a somewhat
unlikely source. Yisrael Beiteinu, Avigdor
Lieberman’s party, is on the right on many issues
The actions of these two parties suggest what’s
possible in the Knesset today on other issues: people
voting their conscience — not voting to advance their
own careers — yields legislative results. The issue is
independent of whether one thinks the death penalty
should be imposed — a result that is, at this point, still
quite a ways away. And in any event, the legislation
would only authorize and not require a sentencing
court to order execution. Whether that will ever result
in the actual carrying out of a death penalty order is
a question that will take quite a long time to answer
even if the legislation ultimately passes.

The willingness of these parties to vote according
to their principles is a lonely beacon in Israel right
now. As is clear from this video collecting their prior
statements, the parties opposing judicial reform
are led by people, like Yair Lapid and Gideon Sa’ar,
who have in the past made clear their belief that the
Israeli Supreme Court needs to be reined in, and
that democracy is offended by the current rule allow-
ing justices to strike down any Knesset law simply
because the judges think the law “unreasonable.”
Yet these men are so eager to see the Netanyahu
government fail and fall that they are leading demon-
strations not only against the law but against any
negotiation about any aspect of the law unless the
coalition first surrenders. After that, these minority
leaders, who lost the last election, might then deign
to talk.

UTJ and Yisrael Beiteinu show the way forward.

Israel has, to put it mildly, grave problems. If its
leaders vote on the issues — and not on personali-
ties or on how a vote will affect their careers — then
the Knesset will wind up taking principled actions
that are chosen by people giving serious thought to
what is best for the country and not for themselves. ■
Jerome M. Marcus is a lawyer and a fellow at the
Kohelet Policy Forum in Jerusalem.

letters Proud Jews in Football
I noticed the Feb. 9 piece about “Hebrew in the
Huddle: American Football Kicks Off Another Season
in Israel,” and it reminded me of the story that Harris
Barton, an All-Pro offensive tackle, told from his days
with the San Francisco 49ers.

Barton, a 2009 inductee into the International
Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, broke from the huddle
and lined up next to tight end John Frank (a 2023
IJSHOF inductee) who could not, for the moment,
recall the count. Barton blurted out, “go on shnaim”
so that his teammate could start the play on two.

Barton related that he wasn’t concerned about the
other team knowing the count, as not too many of
them spoke Hebrew!
On another occasion, Ronnie Lott, a 49ers defen-
sive back, scored a touchdown and, when he spiked
the ball, he blurted out “Shabbat Shalom,” which he
learned from Barton.

While Lott is not Jewish, Barton and Frank are very
proud and identified Jews. ■
Jed Margolis, President of the International
Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, Dresher
SEND US LETTERS
Letters should be related to articles that have run in the print or online
editions of the JE, and may be edited for space and clarity prior to publi-
cation. Please include your first and last name, as well your town/neigh-
borhood of residence. Send letters to letters@jewishexponent.com.

JEWISHEXPONENT.COM 11