NIF donation explained
The chairman of the CPCB grants committee has explained that a donation presented to the president of the New Israel Fund Australia was technically from one of their customers.
Caulfield Park Community Bank (CPCB) sought to ease communal concerns this week after a photo appeared online showing members of the team handing a giant presentation cheque for $10,000 to the president of the New Israel Fund Australia (NIF).
Writing to the local Bendigo Bank branch to express his disquiet and request an explanation, one member of the community claimed that not only is NIF “unrepresentative of a majority of Jews” but that it is also “a very divisive organisation”.
In a letter seen by The AJN, he stated, “[NIF] have a habit of mouthing off pro-Palestinian propaganda … They have policies that are very critical of Israel and … repeatedly lambast Israel and its governmental instrumentalities.”
He concluded, “I would like to know why you decided to grant a considerable sum of money to a political organisation that many in our community believe is doing damage to Israel’s image.”
However, the chairman of the CPCB grants committee explained to The AJN on Monday that the donation wasn’t really the bank’s call. It was technically from one of their customers.
Stressing that, “We (CPCB) do not make donations to any political organisations,” David Clarke said, “The amount given was given by a customer who took out a very large loan.
“Under the Bendigo Bank model, customers can nominate who will be the recipient of the rebate (commission) relating to their loan. A very large loan to a customer was made and the rebate (commission) was paid to the nominated recipient, NIF.”
Clarke did concede though that taking and publishing the presentation photo was perhaps not advisable in terms of PR.
“Because it was a large amount, the staff arranged to have a large cheque presented and photographed. This was possibly an error as this was not part of the CPCB board-approved giving program.”
NIF were approached for comment, but had not responded by press time.
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