Israel's state comptroller claims that the army has been mishandling donations received from outside sources.

Among the problems cited in the report by Joseph Shapira, published Monday, are the Israel Defense Forces’ use of contributions to underwrite basic services that soldiers are supposed to receive as a matter of course from the army, by law; these include health care and religious services. Specifically, funds have been used to build clinics and rehabilitation and orthopedic centers, and to pay for medical services and the purchase of ambulances.

Nor is it rare for soldiers and officers to be involved in fund-raising at their own initiative, on behalf of their own units, and to accept money – and even combat equipment – against the law, the comptroller notes.

Under military law, soldiers may not solicit, collect or accept donations for any purpose, lest they be put in a situation of conflict of interest or otherwise corrupted. This includes armaments, other equipment and clothing. Yet, as Haaretz reported in the past, during Operation Protective Edge in the summer of 2014 in Gaza, one infantry brigade went so far as to publish the bank account details of a support organization, so donations could be deposited directly into it, Shapira writes in his report. Also during Protective Edge, he adds, the army agreed to let units receive donated field showers and generators, though the IDF should have supplied these itself.

In some cases, soldiers’ parents organize to collect donations for their children’s units – a development criticized by the state comptroller because it endangers the principle of maintaining equality between various army units and soldiers, creates inappropriate pressure to fund-raise/donate, and stains the IDF's good name as an army that enforces its rules and supplies its soldiers’ basic needs – not to mention the fact that donated equipment may not meet safety standards, according to the report.

Open gallery view Soldier with coffee and a pastry next to a donation kiosk. Credit: Emil Salman

In short, it states that the IDF must enforce its rules regarding contributions from outside sources and punish violators.

Last October, the IDF reported that it had been looking into cases of this type, and had placed offending soldiers and commanders on trial. Yet, Shapira contends, some soldiers apparently continue to solicit donations, including by means of the Internet and Facebook.

The army apparently obligates commanders of combat units to maintain contact with organizations or firms that “adopt” them (as in the “Adopt a Warrior” project) – although the army’s own regulations forbid any relationship between a soldier or unit and a benefactor, the state comptroller points out. Meanwhile, an investigation in 2014 found that out of 17 IDF infantry units, only four actually used the donated funds in full; five used less than half.

Telemarketers' boon

From 2011 to 2013, the Association for the Wellbeing of Israel’s Soldiers (Ha’aguda Lema’an Hahayal) received about 178 million shekels ($42.26 million) in contributions each year, on average. In 2014, that sum grew to 225 million shekels. The Friends of the IDF in the U.S. group can claim credit for much of that amount.

One body that can’t say the same is the telemarketing company to which AWIS outsourced its campaign: It raised less than 15 million shekels during those same years, but the firm received no less than 44 percent of the total amount as commissions. Moreover, this was after potential donors had been told over the phone that all the money would be used for the benefit of Israeli soldiers. They were thus not informed that a great part of the funding would be used to pay the telemarketing firm – and to cover AWIS’ own administrative expenses, Shapira writes.

He also slammed the Defense Ministry in his report for doing nothing about contributions used to finance the operating costs of the bodies soliciting donations.

Then there’s the bat-mitzvah splash a donor was allowed to hold in mid-2014 at the Adam army base, near Modi’in. The bash was organized by a New York businessman, a veteran donor to various IDF units, and featured demonstrations by the IDF elite's counterterrorism and canine units before bus loads of civilian guests. One soldier estimated the cost of the festivities, which included fireworks, a performance by popular Israeli singer Moshe Peretz and a catered dinner, at around 1.5 million shekels.

The IDF Manpower Directorate hadn’t been informed about the event, let alone approve it, nor did it know about the donation.

Colonel Ariel Ben Dayan, commander of Adam base at the time, was rebuked for his part in the scandal but told the state comptroller that he didn’t see the event – ostensibly a tribute to the soldiers – as a donation per se, so he didn’t seek permission to accept the contributed funds.

For his part, the state comptroller believes the commander’s views prove that the army is failing to drive home its orders regarding donations. Shapira's report reiterates that the whole affair could create the impression that the army isn’t "taking care of its own."

Nor is it legal, it states, to maintain direct contact with the U.S. Friends organization, which contravenes army orders; indeed, such rules are constantly being ignored. Officers have been reporting to the Friends group about the progress of projects financed by donations, says Shapira, who adds that this practice has to be rooted out.

The Defense Ministry commented in response that it has been leading a “historic move” in recent years to change the structure of donations that benefit IDF soldiers, and added that in 2015, an agreement was signed to merge AWIS and Libi, the official fund of the IDF, as recommended by a public committee.

Beginning this year, the two organizations have been operating as one unit, albeit in two realms, added the ministry: one to solicit donations for soldiers and the other in the form of an operational body that allocates funds according to directives and criteria set by the army. The merger should assure that the donations are used according to the proper criteria, for soldiers who really need them, said the ministry.

It also noted that various control mechanisms have been put in place within the IDF and the ministry itself to keep funds from being passed on directly to units, and to ensure that the monies are not used to finance combat-related equipment.