All Israel News reports that a 3-judge panel of Israel’s Supreme Court, sitting as the High Court of Justice, last week ordered the Knesset Finance Committee to grant non-profit status to a Messianic Jewish organization, Yachad, which operates a Messianic Jewish congregation. Last year, the Finance Committee had rejected non-profit status for the organization. The court said in part:
The decision of the Finance Committee was based on an incorrect assumption, that they had the authority to take into consideration that a nonprofit is engaged in ‘controversial’ activity. Based on the tax authority’s examination, the organization’s missionary activity is not bound to illegal activity. The representatives of the Knesset also confirmed that the decision was value-based, that it is improper to finance a religious organization seeking to convert Jews, even if their activity is legal. … This confirms that the committee overreached in its authority.