British taxpayers helped fund therapy for Israeli soldiers who fought in Gaza, an investigation by Declassified UK has revealed, with the British government adding 25 percent in Gift Aid tax relief to donations channeled to an Israeli occupation soldiers organization.
According to the investigation, the Yahalom Foundation, a group supporting soldiers in the Israeli occupation army's elite Yahalom engineering unit, instructed British supporters to route their donations through what it called its registered partner platform in the United Kingdom. In emails obtained by Declassified, the foundation told donors that processing their contributions this way would secure full tax recognition and enable Gift Aid, and that 100 percent of the gift would be routed directly to Yahalom to support its core mission.
The foundation directed British donors to a list of fundraising projects for Israeli soldiers, including a 5,000-pound "therapeutic healing journey" for troops returning from Gaza, along with individual psychological treatments. It was also raising 100,000 pounds for a memorial hall to commemorate fallen Israeli soldiers. Records from two years earlier show British donations were used to buy equipment for serving Israeli soldiers, with one fundraising page appealing for help to purchase specialized equipment and supply it to the troops.
The revelation is significant because Britain's own Charity Commission has previously stated that it is neither lawful nor acceptable for a charity to raise funds to support a soldier of a foreign military. As a foreign organization, the Yahalom Foundation cannot directly claim UK Gift Aid. But according to Declassified, a British charity called UK Toremet acted as the conduit, with the foundation describing it in emails as its registered partner platform that processes donations on its behalf and, because it is a registered UK charity, ensures donors receive Gift Aid.
The Yahalom unit is the Israeli occupation army's elite engineering force, trained in explosives and the destruction of what Israel calls terror tunnels, and it has played a central role in the genocide in Gaza through the mass demolition of civilian infrastructure. An Israeli army spokesperson has said the unit is deployed everywhere in the Gaza Strip, while one of its soldiers has spoken publicly about blowing up buildings in Gaza and operating inside Palestinian hospitals.
Responding to the investigation, UK Toremet confirmed it had given money to the Yahalom Foundation for the provision of treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, insisting the funds were used solely for that purpose and that providing mental-health treatment to an individual is charitable under English law. The charity denied being the foundation's partner platform, calling that description inaccurate, and claimed the foundation was merely an alumni association for veterans, though the foundation's own website says it is dedicated to soldiers who have served and are currently serving.
The findings come days after the Charity Commission announced an inquiry into eight British charities operating in illegal Israeli settlements, examining whether their funds are being used for genuinely charitable purposes. UK Toremet refused to confirm to Declassified whether it is among those under investigation. The charity has faced a string of controversies over its role as a conduit for money flowing to illegal settlements. It was founded by a Briton who emigrated to Israel and served as a spokesman for an illegal West Bank settlement, and a British lawmaker recently said UK Toremet was one of two groups that had channeled a combined 28 million pounds to illegal settlements, meaning British taxpayers may have added millions more through Gift Aid.
Previous investigations have linked UK Toremet to extremist pro-settler organizations, including the EU-sanctioned group Regavim, whose international director was secretly filmed describing how funds are routed through UK Toremet and a sister organization so that no paper trail connects the money to Regavim. The charity has also been linked to a group that buys property for settlers and whose director admitted on camera that it subsidizes guns.
Reacting to the investigation, Gearoid O Cuinn, director of the Global Legal Action Network, said the case appeared to be another instance of the United Kingdom failing to meet its obligations under international law to stamp out financial links to abuses abroad, warning that public Gift Aid funds could be used to support Israeli soldiers who have committed genocide in Gaza and war crimes in the occupied West Bank. HM Revenue and Customs, which administers Gift Aid, declined to comment, citing confidentiality rules, while the Yahalom Foundation did not respond to a request for comment.
Sources: Declassified UK, August 13, 2026
