The Israeli parliament finalized a controversial law compelling NGOs that receive most of their funding from foreign state entities to declare it in official reports, a Knesset spokesman said early Tuesday, July 11. The law, seen by critics as targeting groups that campaign for Palestinian, democratic and social rights, was passed in a 57-48 vote following a lengthy debate.
Far-right NGOs funded by foreign non-governmental sources are not included in the law.
According to the Justice Ministry, there are only 27 organizations in Israel that get more than half their funding from foreign governments. Of these, 25 are human rights organizations identified with the Left. The law, sponsored by far-right Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked (Beit Yehudi) passed with full backing from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Critics retort that the right-wing lawmakers who claim to want transparency for government-funded groups are unwilling to impose similar requirements for groups funded by foreign non-governmental sources. Many right-wing and settler NGOs and advocacy groups draw a great deal of their funding from Jews in the US and elsewhere, as well as other private sources.
The entirety of Monday’s plenary session was devoted to the bill. The debate began in the late afternoon and lasted over six hours, with the final vote. One after another, opposition members accused the government of persecuting human rights groups and of trying to silence legitimate criticism of its conduct. Joint List leader MK Ayman Odeh (Hadash) told the bill’s proponents that the belonging to the list of NGOs target by the new law was “a badge of honor, a group of courageous nonprofits and organizations that are only strengthened by your campaign of delegitimization.” Odeh said “You chose to persecute two kinds of organizations: those working for equality and those battling against the occupation. With that, you’ve clearly marked your enemies — peace and equality.”.
“Human rights organizations are completely transparent,” argued Hadash MK Dov Khenin (Joint List), one of the bill’s most vocal opponents. “All their contributions are reported, and therefore, there’s no real reason for the government’s NGO bill except to divert the discussion and incite the public.” “Where is transparency really needed? In extreme right-wing organizations,” he added, noting that these organizations receive millions of shekels from private overseas donors, “but there, the government has chosen to impose secrecy and obscure the money trail.”
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