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foreign government to charitable uses. The estate, in contrast,
alleges that any such failure is cured by the following text of
Decision 6171 of the Cabinet of the Government of the State of
Israel (Decision 6171), dated October 1995 (a copy and
translation of which have been stipulated by the parties):
2.(a) Estates for the benefit of the State, whether or
not the testator has specified the ultimate purpose,
shall be designated by the Administrator General,
Ministry of Justice, for the purposes and to the bodies
as determined by the Public Committee as hereinafter
provided. Where the testator has specified the object,
the allocation shall be made within the scope of that
object.
(b) In estates for the benefit of the State where the
testator has not specified their object or where the
object is incapable of fulfillment, the Committee shall
make the designation exclusively for charitable
purposes, namely - welfare, education, health, culture,
religion, science, art and the advancement of all other
humanitarian and social aims.
(c) Monies from estates shall not be designated in
substitution of monies that have been budgeted in the
State Budget and shall not be designated for the
financing of activities which are directly carried out
by Government Ministries.
C. Analysis
Regulations promulgated under section 2055 clarify that a
deduction is allowed under the statute “for the value of property
included in the decedent’s gross estate and transferred by the
decedent during his lifetime or by will”. Sec. 20.2055-1(a),
Estate Tax Regs. (emphasis added). Courts likewise have declined
to permit deductions where the amounts passing to charity turned
upon the actions either of the decedent’s personal
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