Chelsea FC owner donates $95M to Israeli settler group

By Karim El-Bar

LONDON (AA) - An investigation by BBC Arabic found the owner of the Chelsea football club in the English Premier League donated £74 million ($95 million) to an Israeli settler group accused of displacing Palestinians from occupied East Jerusalem.

Roman Abramovich made the donations to Elad through his firms, according to leaked documents.

The amount donated makes Abramovich the biggest donor to the settler group, which also receives support from the Israeli government.

BBC Arabic was told by Elad that the group conforms with Israeli NGO laws, but would not confirm that Abramovich was a donor.

Abramovich was “a committed and generous supporter of Israeli and Jewish civil society, and over the past 20 years he has donated over five hundred million dollars to support healthcare, science, education and Jewish communities in Israel and around the world,” an Elad spokesman was quoted by the news outlet.

Abramovich was granted Israeli citizenship in 2018 and has donated generously to Israel.

Elad is accused of supporting settlements in Silwan, an area of occupied East Jerusalem, where 450 settlers live amongst 10,000 Palestinians, according to The Guardian.

Settlements on occupied Palestinian land are considered illegal under international law.