An Israeli civil rights organization, Shurat HaDin, has filed a “whistleblower” action with the U.S. government seeking the revocation of the tax exempt status of the Presbyterian Church USA.
An Israeli civil rights organization, Shurat HaDin, has filed a “whistleblower” action with the U.S. government seeking the revocation of the tax exempt status of the Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA). In its 38 page complaint filed on 2 Dec 2014 with the Internal Revenue Service, Shurat HaDin alleges the PCUSA abuses its tax exempt status by engaging in unlawful political lobbying. It further accused the church of having links with the terrorist group Hezbollah. “It’s high time the IRS took a long look at the Presbyterian Church and investigated its meeting with the designated terrorist organization Hezbollah, its lobbying activities and its anti-Israel divestment policies,” said Shurat HaDin spokesman Robert Tolchin in a press release. “The PCUSA is obsessed with attacking the Jewish State and has moved far from the activities which it presented to the IRS to secure its tax-free status in the United States.” In its complaint Shurat HaDin documented meetings of PCUSA leaders with Hezbollah, and accused it of “publishing anti-Semitic materials, enacting a racist policy to divest from American companies doing business with Israel, lobbying the U.S. Congress and distributing political advocacy materials in violation of its tax-exempt status as a religious organization.” The PCUSA did not respond to request for comments on the lawsuit.
