Watchdog Demands Probe To Strip Tax-Exempt Status From Lefty Nonprofit Incubating Anti-Israel Activism

A civil rights group combating anti-semitism formally requested the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to investigate a nonprofit supporting anti-Israel groups allegedly linked to violent protests on Wednesday.

The Zachor Legal Institute — a Montana-based legal think tank and advocacy organization — wrote a letter to acting IRS Commissioner Michael Faulkender alleging that the Westchester People’s Action Coalition (WESPAC) Foundation violated multiple legal requirements for tax-exempt status by providing fiscal sponsorship to Within Our Lifetime (WOL), a group accused of advocating for political violence, Jewish Insider reported.

WESPAC, based in White Plains, New York, describes itself as a “leading force for progressive social change,” focusing on “educating, agitating, and organizing for a more just and peaceful world, an end to militarism and racism, and a more fair economy that works for all,” according to its website.

“Through its fiscal sponsorship of Within Our Lifetime, a violent, radical and anti-Israel organization, WESPAC may have violated both the public policy doctrine and the illegality doctrine that the IRS uses to analyze and discern whether a 501(c)(3) charitable organization can maintain their tax-exempt status,” alleged Zachor’s president, Marc Greendorfer, in the complaint.

The public policy doctrine allows the IRS to deny or revoke tax-exempt status for an organization if its purpose or activities violate fundamental public policy, and the illegality doctrine prevents an organization from qualifying for or maintaining tax-exempt status if it engages in illegal activities, according to the complaint. As a fiscal sponsor, WESPAC can administer the tax-exempt contributions it receives to sponsored organizations, like Within Our Lifetime (WOL), which are not obligated to register with the IRS,