An internal crisis has erupted at Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF), a prominent U.S.-based charity that raised an extraordinary $272 million in 2023 in support of its mission and programs, including support for Israeli soldiers in Gaza. The turmoil centers around allegations of “financial mismanagement, cronyism, and a toxic workplace culture,” according to a July 2025 article published by The Jewish Telegraph Agency. An internal 18‑page report, released by Ynet, accuses FIDF’s chairman, Morey Lebovitz, of centralizing power, sidelining the charity’s CEO and other senior staff, awarding contracts without proper oversight, and authorizing lavish spending.

According to Ynet the report also alleges excessive spending on Lebovitz’s personal travel and lodging—reimbursements nearing $53,000 that may breach the charity’s bylaws. Its fallout includes leadership resignations, most notably the charity’s 42-year veteran legal counsel, Stephen Rubin, and frozen contributions from key regional chapters like San Francisco that normally contributes $7.5 million in support annually.

Response

In response, FIDF’s board has retained a nonprofit-specialized law firm and a PR agency to strengthen internal governance and manage donor and public communications, according to The Jewish Telegraph Agency. The media outlet also reported that FIDF released to it a statement that included the following:

“When we were made aware of the allegations, FIDF immediately began an internal investigation…We take these matters extremely seriously. Our board and leadership team are actively evaluating and addressing the concerns raised and taking appropriate steps to respond swiftly and responsibly.”

Unfair Accusations of Stockpiling Donations?

The Jewish Telegraph Agency reported that last year, Arnie Draiman, a consultant who vets charities for donors looking to support Israel-related causes, looked into the FIDF on behalf of a client, digging up tax returns and questioning FIDF about its spending practices and large asset reserves.

“Here is an example of a nonprofit holding so much money they don’t know what to do with it,” he wrote in a note summarizing his thoughts, according to The Jewish Telegraph Agency. “They just hold on to it for the proverbial rainy day … despite the fact that the hurricane is outside. Will your money be used at all? Who knows. Will it sit somewhere for years? Probably.”

CharityWatch’s analysis did not uncover the stockpiling of funds alluded to in the article.  While FIDF certainly has a significant amount of assets, it also incurs more than a hundred million dollars in expenses each year. For example, we computed the organization’s years of available assets as 2.20 years as of 12/31/2018; 2.02 years as of 12/31/2021; and 1.93 as of 12/31/2023. Meaning, this is how long FIDF could continue to operate at each of those respective years’ spending levels before it ran out of funds (were it to not generate any new donations or other revenue). CharityWatch downgrades the ratings of nonprofits that hold an equivalent of 3 years’ or more of available assets. CharityWatch has never downgraded FIDF’s rating for high assets since we first began rating the group in fiscal 2012.

For our fiscal 2023 computation we took FIDF’s reported net fund balance of $287,980,572 and subtracted from it fixed assets of $602,886, and $11,746,754 of permanently restricted net assets that the charity is legally prohibited by outside donors from using. (A charity is generally allowed to use investment earnings on permanently restricted funds but is legally prohibited from touching the corpus). This amounts to available net assets of $275,946,932. We divided this by our computation of the charity’s fiscal 2023 cash expenses of $143,165,470 to arrive at a final figure for years of available assets of 1.93 years. 

NOTE: See Audit Note 13 for more information about donor-restricted funds held in perpetuity.

CharityWatch Rating

CharityWatch has issued a “Governance Exception” for Friends of the Israel Defense Forces at this time due to the recent allegations of “financial mismanagement, cronyism, and a toxic workplace culture,” as reported in July 2025 by The Jewish Telegraph Agency. CharityWatch is in the process of contacting Friends of the Israel Defense Forces for comment and more information regarding these allegations and has removed the charity from our Top-Rated list as a temporary measure while we investigate. 

As of July 9th, 2025 CharityWatch’s current rating of Friends of the Israel Defense Forces is based on a thorough review of its audited financial statements and IRS tax Form 990 for its fiscal year ended December 31st, 2023, and reflects our assessment of its financial activities for that year. As of July 9th, 2025 the charity’s audited financial statements and IRS tax Form 990 for its fiscal year ended December 31st, 2024 are not yet posted on its website. CharityWatch will update the FIDF’s rating once complete fiscal 2024 financial information becomes available. 

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