ChatGPT says:
1. FIDF (Friends of the Israel Defense Forces)
Notorious for high executive salaries and spending a large share of donations on internal operations and events rather than direct aid to soldiers.CEO salaries in the past have exceeded $900k/year.
2. The Jewish National Fund (JNF-USA)
Controls massive real estate in Israel, but has faced criticism for lack of transparency.Spends heavily on marketing and events.
CEO salary over $600k/year, and a relatively small portion of donations goes directly to tree planting or land development.
3. American Friends of Magen David Adom (AFMDA)
Supports Israel’s emergency medical services.While effective in some areas, watchdogs have flagged high admin and fundraising expenses at times, including executive salaries well above average.
4. American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC)
A major player in global Jewish aid.Criticized in the past for top-heavy executive structures and expensive global operations.
Multiple execs earning over $400k.
5. American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science
Supports science research in Israel.Some reports show a disproportionate chunk of donations spent on fundraising and salaries.
6. Birthright Israel Foundation
Heavy donor-backed programs sending young Jews to Israel.Criticized for lack of spending transparency and marketing-heavy overhead.
Exec pay and admin costs sometimes flagged by donor advocates.
7. Hadassah
Owns hospitals in Israel; one of the largest Jewish women’s organizations.Has had major scandals over pension mismanagement and high compensation (former CEO earned over $500k).
Also criticized for investing donations into self-owned infrastructure and not direct aid.
Grok says:
1. Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF)
Claim: Notorious for high executive salaries and spending a large share of donations on internal operations and events rather than direct aid to soldiers. CEO salaries in the past have exceeded $900k/year.
Analysis:
Executive Compensation: Historical data supports high CEO salaries at FIDF. For example, former National Director and CEO Meir Klifi-Amir received compensation ranging from $700,000 to $1.2 million annually between 2016 and 2020, with a total of over $5 million during that period. Current CEO Steven Weil’s exact salary for 2025 isn’t publicly detailed in the provided sources, but a 2025 eJewishPhilanthropy report notes he earns “one of the higher salaries in the Jewish nonprofit world,” suggesting it remains significant. In 2021, 161 employees received $17 million in total compensation, averaging $106,000, with 16 highly compensated employees earning over $4 million collectively.
Spending on Operations/Events: FIDF has faced criticism for lavish spending and high administrative costs. A 2025 Jewish Telegraphic Agency report and Ynet investigation highlighted allegations of mismanagement, including wasteful spending on five-star hotel stays and exclusive travel contracts, creating a “poisonous” work environment under board chair Morey Levovitz. FIDF raised $280 million in 2023, nearly triple its anticipated $100 million, but critics like Daniel Mael and Arnie Draiman argue that large reserves ($174 million in net assets as of 2021) are not being used efficiently for urgent soldier needs, with some funds tied up in investments rather than direct aid. FIDF’s 2024 year-end report claims $250 million committed to emergency needs (e.g., PTSD treatment, medical equipment) and $63 million for core programs, but the program expense ratio isn’t specified in recent data.
Transparency and Efficiency: FIDF has a 4-star Charity Navigator rating (98% score) and CharityWatch’s “Top-Rated” seal, indicating strong accountability. However, CharityWatch notes FIDF does not meet governance benchmarks, and critics argue its fundraising efficiency is questionable due to high-profile galas featuring celebrities like Mike Tyson and Ashton Kutcher, which cost millions to host. In 2021, FIDF spent $85 million against $89 million raised, with $25 million annually on average going to administrative costs, including compensation.
Verification: The claim of “most money” going to internal operations isn’t fully substantiated, as FIDF reports significant program spending (e.g., $101 million in emergency funding in 2024). However, the high reserves and allegations of lavish spending suggest a notable portion supports overhead. Check FIDF’s 2024 Form 990 on GuideStar or ProPublica’s Nonprofit Explorer for the latest program-to-admin expense ratio.
2. Jewish National Fund (JNF-USA)
Claim: Controls massive real estate in Israel but has faced criticism for lack of transparency. Spends heavily on marketing and events. CEO salary over $600k/year, and a relatively small portion of donations goes directly to tree planting or land development.Analysis:Executive Compensation: The claim of a CEO salary over $600,000 aligns with historical data. In 2020, JNF-USA’s CEO Russell Robinson earned approximately $600,000, per nonprofit salary reports. No 2025 data is available, but this suggests high executive pay is plausible.
Spending and Transparency: JNF-USA is known for real estate and development projects in Israel, including water infrastructure and community building. However, it has faced criticism for lack of transparency, particularly regarding how funds are allocated to specific projects like tree planting. Charity Navigator gives JNF-USA a 3-star rating (86% score), citing strong accountability but noting fundraising and administrative costs. In 2023, JNF-USA raised significant funds for resilience campaigns, but exact program expense ratios aren’t detailed in recent sources. Critics have pointed to heavy marketing (e.g., promotional campaigns, events) as diverting funds from direct programmatic impact.
3. American Friends of Magen David Adom (AFMDA)
Claim: Supports Israel’s emergency medical services. Watchdogs have flagged high admin and fundraising expenses at times, including executive salaries well above average.
4. American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC)
Claim: A major player in global Jewish aid. Criticized for top-heavy executive structures and expensive global operations. Multiple execs earning over $400k.Analysis:Executive Compensation: JDC’s executive pay has been scrutinized. In 2020, multiple executives, including the CEO, reportedly earned over $400,000, per nonprofit salary databases. No 2025 data is available, but this aligns with JDC’s scale as a global organization with significant operational needs. Charity Navigator’s 2023 rating (4-star, 91% score) notes strong governance, but high salaries are a point of contention.
5. American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science
Claim: Supports science research in Israel. Some reports show a disproportionate chunk of donations spent on fundraising and salaries.Analysis:Executive Compensation: No specific 2025 salary data is available, but historical reports suggest the CEO and top executives earn competitive salaries, likely in the $300,000–$500,000 range, typical for large research-focused nonprofits. Charity Navigator rates the organization highly (4-star, 90% score), but salary concerns persist among critics.
The Forward published Oct. 21, 2013:
One Jewish charity CEO hid allegedly stolen cash in his apartment closet. Another had an affair with his assistant while the assistant’s son-in-law stole from the CEO’s organization. A third covered up sex abuse charges for decades.
Scandal after scandal has hit New York’s top Jewish charities this year. Experts blame lax oversight, saying that the multi-decade leadership tenures common among Jewish charity CEOs have corroded governance at some of the Jewish community’s largest not-for-profits.
The four major Jewish charity scandals over the past 10 months come just five years after some of the same organizations lost a fortune in Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme.
Two-decade terms are common for the men who run the nation’s largest Jewish organizations. Wealthy families hold seats on multiple boards of trustees. Several professionals who specialize in Jewish charity management told the Forward that fixes exist for the governance problems facing the Jewish not-for-profit sector, but they require structural changes. Executive suites need to turn over faster, the experts said. Trustees need to be better trained, and to be selected with an eye toward oversight skills, not just deep pockets…
The worst year for Jewish charities since the Madoff debacle in 2008 started in late December 2012, when the Forward reported that Yeshiva University’s longtime former president Rabbi Norman Lamm had admitted to covering up allegations of sex abuse of high school students from the 1970s through the ’90s. Alleged victims soon filed a $380 million lawsuit against the school.
Then, in May, the Forward reported that top officials at the Conference of Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, which distributes aid to Holocaust victims, had been warned of fraud being perpetrated by employees eight years before a full investigation uncovered a multi-million dollar scam.
Things got even darker over the summer. In July, the 92nd Street Y fired its executive director, Sol Adler, after learning of Adler’s affair with his assistant, Catherine Marto. His affair, though embarrassing, wasn’t the worst of it. Marto’s son-in-law was the Y’s head of facilities, and was accused of taking kickbacks from vendors on construction projects. The Y shouldn’t have been surprised: He had pleaded guilty in 1999 in a Mafia-backed Wall Street fraud.
All those scandals were just a warm-up for the firing in August of William Rapfogel, CEO of the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty and one of the largest figures on the New York Jewish not-for-profit scene. Rapfogel was charged in September with stealing $5 million from Met Council in a two-decade kickback scheme. His predecessor at Met Council, Rabbi Dovid Cohen, resigned in September from his current job running the Jewish ambulance service Hatzolah.
These weren’t the first embarrassing scandals in recent memory for Y.U. or for Met Council, both of which lost donor money in the 2008 Madoff fraud. Madoff was chairman of the board of Y.U.’s business school and a former treasurer of the university; J. Ezra Merkin, who managed funds that secretly fed millions into Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, was on Y.U.’s investment committee. That Merkin was on the board committee charged with overseeing the university’s investments didn’t keep Y.U. from investing in his fund, a conflict that received heavy criticism after the Madoff fraud was revealed. Y.U. lost $105 million invested with Madoff through Merkin.
Apr. 11, 2016, the Algemeiner published:
Back in January, a Jewish healthcare charity in New York was ordered to repay $47 million to state and Federal authorities following the revelation of Medicaid fraud. This followed the dubious bankruptcy of the Federation Employment & Guidance Service — another Jewish social service nonprofit. And then there’s the scandal of the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty, whose former director is currently serving a prison sentence for a 20-year attempt to defraud the charity. What’s going on?
CenterLight Healthcare
Formerly known as the Beth Abraham Family of Health Services, CenterLight Healthcare provides long-term care solutions such as nursing, home help, and rehabilitation services. It’s a much needed and much welcomed institution that has doubtlessly givenaid to those in need, including those without adequate healthcare provisions.
However, late last year it emerged that CenterLight “did not play by the rules” (in the words of New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman) when it came to certain Medicaid dealings. Essentially, CenterLight enrolled more than a thousand Medicaid patients into programs for which they did not qualify. CenterLight then fraudulently claimed state payments. While the patients may well have benefited from these programs, the fact that CenterLight falsely took state money puts a rather less philanthropic light upon the case.
FEGS And The Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty
Back in March 2015, another Jewish social organization, the Federation Employment & Guidance Service (FEGS) filed for bankruptcy. Nearly 1,400 people lost their jobs, but the executives all got substantial pay outs. By October the organization was under investigation for mismanagement, and those who lost their jobs were filing suit against their former employers to the tune of $6.6 million.
FEGS was one of the largest nonprofits in the United States, but allegations that it treated its employees shabbily have not gone away, and the circumstances surrounding its bankruptcy smell decidedly fishy.
Coinciding with all of this is the case of the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty. This charity aims to help families in need to connect with and obtain services (such as housing, social benefits, senior aid, food, and so on) that would help them. In May of last year, its former executive director, Rabbi David Cohen, was sentenced to a jail term for his part in defrauding the nonprofit out of around $9 million over the course of 20 years.
