The three-year legal battle between the Internal Revenue Service and a pro-Israel organization that says it was subject to discrimination continued on Friday, when a judge heard the government's motion to dismiss at the federal district court in Washington, D.C.
Z Street filed suit against the IRS and then-commissioner Douglas Shulman in 2010 after its application for tax-exempt status was delayed and it was allegedly told by IRS officials that the agency had singled it out for special scrutiny because its pro-Israel positions conflicted with Obama administration policies.
Z Street says it wants the government to publicly disclose its policy for dealing with tax-exempt applications from Israel-advocacy organizations, as well as a court decision on whether the policy violates the First Amendment.
"There clearly is a policy—it's just they haven't had the chutzpah to say out loud what it is," said Z Street attorney Jerome Marcus.
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