Israeli Right targets left-wing NGOs

This posting has this selection of the many articles on the NGO bill:

1) +972: Israeli gov’t votes to support bill targeting left-wing NGOs, Edo Konrad succinctly lays it out;
2) Ynet: EU slams NGOs bill: ‘Reminiscent of totalitarian regimes’;
3) Times of Israel: Critics decry NGO bill as blow to Israeli democracy, reveals the badge-wearing requirement;
4) Haaretz: Israeli Ministers Pass Contentious Bill to ‘Out’ Foreign-funded NGOs, Jonathan Lis gives clear political analysis of the measure;
5) VoA: EU Critical of Proposed Israeli Law on NGOs, Voice of America, which has some information others don’t;

Israelis protest outside Ayelet Shaked’s house about the ‘Transparency Bill’. Photo by Motti Kimchi

Israeli gov’t votes to support bill targeting left-wing NGOs

Proposed law would force human rights NGOs to sport special labels and badges indicating that they receive foreign funding. The bill still needs to go through committee, pass a full Knesset vote.

By Edo Konrad, +972
December 27, 2015

The Israeli government on Sunday voted to support a law targetting human rights and left-wing organizations, which European countries and human rights activists have said resemble less-than-democratic regimes

The bill, should it become law, would require NGOs that receive 50 percent or more of their funding from foreign governments to detail those sources of funding in any public reports or documents, meetings with state officials, and to wear special tags when attending legislative sessions in Israel’s parliament, the Knesset. The bill is designed to single out human rights, pro-democracy and left-wing civil society organizations.

Instituting mandatory funding labels and identification badges would project a message that human rights work is a foreign — as opposed to an Israeli — interest or agenda.

MK Ayman Odeh, the leader of Israel’s third largest party in the Knesset, described that law as another effort by the Netanyahu government to “[chip] away at what is left of the democratic space in Israel.”

The “Transparency Bill,” the latest iteration of which was sponsored by Justice Minister and Jewish Home MK Ayelet Shaked, is not the first of its kind. Netanyahu governments have been attempting to pass various versions of similar legislation cracking down on left-wing NGOs since 2011. Netanyahu eventually put the kibosh on previous attempts for various reasons.

Despite the fact that Netanyahu has blocked earlier versions of this law in the past, however, an unnamed source in the Israeli government recently told Haaretz that the prime minister would not stand in the way this time. The current version is more watered-down than previous attempts to target left-wing NGOs.

Posted on Im Tirzu’s Facebook page – the far-right NGO sees all humanitarian and peace groups as wolves  in sheep’s clothing.

Sunday’s vote comes a week after proto-fascist group Im Tirzu launched a hateful campaign targeting Israeli human rights activists and their respective organizations, suggesting that because they receive foreign funding that they are “planted” foreign agents working to advance foreign agendas, at the detriment of Israeli security.

European Union officials harshly criticized the bill Sunday, warning Israel to be “very careful about reining in its prosperous democratic society with laws that are reminiscent of totalitarian regimes.” The United States has in the past said it was worried by Israeli legislation targeting NGO funding.

The purpose of the bill is to make the occupation disappear and blame those who oppose it — human rights organizations — for the global criticism that it creates
Hagai El-Ad, B’Tselem

Both the United States and European Union are significant funders of human rights, civil rights and social equality non-profit groups in Israel.

Earlier this month, four leading German legislators sent a letter to Prime Minister Netanyahu expressing their concern over the bill, asking Netanyahu to “rethink” the proposed legislation.

“Human rights organizations fill an essential role in any society which aspires to be democratic,” MK Odeh added, “which is why they are constantly targeted as enemies of Israeli sovereignty.”

Hagai El-Ad, executive director of Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem, explained the bill targeting critical NGOs as an attempt “to make the occupation disappear and blame those who oppose it — human rights organizations — for the global criticism that it creates.”

EU slams NGOs bill: ‘Reminiscent of totalitarian regimes’

Legislation passes vote at ministerial committee, seeks to impose transparency on Israeli NGOs funded by other countries – but does not apply to private foreign donors.

By Itamar Eichner and Moran Azulay, Ynet news
December 27, 2015

The European Union slammed a bill proposal seeking to impose transparency on Israeli NGOs receiving donations from other countries, with EU officials saying that “Israel should be very careful about reigning in its prosperous democratic society with laws that are reminiscent of totalitarian regimes.”

The Transparency Law (also known as the NGOs Law) was approved by the Ministerial Committee for Legislative Affairs on Sunday.

The legislative proposal seeks to increase transparency in NGOs and public-benefit corporations which receive most of their funding from other countries. However, the bill would not apply to NGOs funded by private foreign donors, which has led to outrage in the opposition.

The bill requires NGOs who receive more than half of their funding from other countries to make a note of this in publications and reports released to the public. These NGOs will also have to state that fact in any inquiry made to an elected public representative or public official, as well as in discussions of public nature. The NGOs will be required to state the names of the countries that donated to them and the years the donations were made.

The legislation also seeks to impose on representatives of these NGOs the same rules that apply to lobbyists at the Knesset, including wearing an identity badge detailing the name of the person and the NGO they represent. Representatives found without such a badge will have their entry permit to the Knesset revoked.

NGOs failing to comply with the new legislation will receive a fine of up to NIS 29,200.

“The Transparency Law is meant to limit the information that gets to foreign countries,” Shaked said at the beginning of the weekly cabinet meeting. “When foreign countries are involved in the internal affairs of another country, the public should know about it. The European Union’s objection also shows foreign involvement.”

Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, one of Jewish Home’s most hardline leaders. Photo by Activestills.org

“I actually believe the meddling of foreign countries in the regime and policies of another country is the real danger to democracy,” Shaked added. “It cannot be that the EU contributes to NGOs acting on behalf of the State of Israel when in fact they are being used as a tool by foreign countries to implement their own policies.”

Former justice minister Tzipi Livni slammed the proposal and submitted her own NGOs bill that seeks to increase transparency in NGOs regarding both state and private foreign donors.

“I have no problem with transparency in NGOs,” Livni said. “But it must apply to everyone. Even to those who receive funds from private unknown donors. I want to also know who are the foreigners who fund ‘Im Tirzu.'”

Protesters gathered outside Shaked’s Tel Aviv home on Saturday night to demonstrate against the legislation, calling it the “NGO labeling law.” They claimed the Justice Ministry is working on behalf of inciters, and called the bill a “witch hunt.”

Omri Efraim contributed to this report.

Lars Faaborg-Andersen, Danish diplomat, EU ambassador to Israel

Critics decry NGO bill as blow to Israeli democracy

Herzog says legislation is ‘bullet between the eyes’ for Israel’s international standing and helps country’s enemies

By Times of Israel staff
December 27, 2015

Opposition politicians and civil society activists bashed a controversial bill given an initial okay on Sunday which would require non-governmental groups to declare funding from foreign countries, saying it would harm free speech in Israel as well as damage the country’s international standing.

The so-called NGO bill, which was proposed by the cabinet, was unanimously passed earlier in the day by the Ministerial Committee for Legislation, green-lighting coalition support for the measure.

Zionist Union party chief Isaac Herzog called the passage of the measure “a black day for civil liberties, associations, and Israeli thought,” on Twitter.

“The government decision to approve the twisted NGO bill is a bullet between the eyes for Israel’s standing in the world,” Herzog said in a statement. “Our enemies are giving a big thank you to the Israeli government, which has put us on the same level with the darkest countries in the world.”

MK Tzipi Livni, a former justice minister now in the opposition, said in a tweet the bill is “another brick in the wall of solitude the government is putting up around Israel.”

“This is internal politics at the expense of proper foreign policy,” Livni said. “This is not a law that’s designed for transparency, it’s a law that will mark Israelis.”

In addition to coming clean on their foreign funding, representatives of NGOs will also be required to wear an identification badge whenever they attend sessions in the Knesset that reflects their group’s foreign funding.

A Peace Now activist holds a sign reading “fighting against the occupation and for human rights” at a protest against the NGO bill in Tel Aviv on December 26, 2015. Photo by Tomer Neuberg/FLASH90

The bill would have NGO representatives wear a tag similar to those worn by lobbyists — or face a NIS 29,000 ($7,500) fine.

Critics say the bill unfairly targets left-leaning NGOs and groups critical of the government.

Almost all of the groups that will be affected by the bill identify with the political left, as those NGOs receive funding from foreign governments while those on the political right are mainly funded by private donors, who are not subject to scrutiny by the bill.

The bill’s proponents contend that the funding of NGOs by mainly European governments amounts to interference in Israeli domestic matters and pushes foreign interests in the guise of human rights advocacy.

Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, who proposed the legislation, said after the passage that the measure would not impact freedom of speech.

Shaked addressed concerns voiced by European Union ambassador to Israel Lars Faaborg-Anderse, who had already attacked the bill in an earlier meeting with the minister several weeks ago.

“The European Union ambassador spoke out today against the bill and said that in his opinion the law is a blow to democracy, and asked Israel to ‘refrain from action which damage freedom of speech and freedom of assembly,’” she said. “I want to reassure the ambassador and assure him that the bill doesn’t impact freedom of speech at all. It can’t be that the European Union donates to NGOs that are acting in the name of Israel, when in practice they are used as a tool by foreign countries to implement their policies.”

Zehava Galon, leader of the left-wing Meretz party, called the bill a “continuation of the political hunting, chasing, and silencing of human rights groups and left-wing groups, who criticize the behavior of the government.”

Galon charged that the bill was intended “to damage the legitimacy and activities of NGOs who identify with the political left-wing and human rights organizations, as a first step to marking [them] before making [them] illegal and stopping their activities.”

The New Israel Fund, which funnels money to many of the groups which will be affected by the bill, said the measure was not about transparency but rather about stifling human rights campaigns.

“In the past few weeks we have been witnesses to a campaign of incitement that was intended to advance the NGO bill of Ayelet Shaked,” the New Israel Fund said in response to the approval of the bill.

“The New Israel Fund is in favour of transparency, but the proposed law does not try to advance the values of transparency, rather intends to selectively silence and politically hound human rights organizations.”

Adalah, a legal aid group for Israeli Arabs, echoed Galon’s warnings.

“The demand to wear special badges to identify people and organizations against a background of their views or identity is familiar from the most criminal regimes, and represents an act of humiliation and incitement against citizens and against the legitimate activities of organizations,” the groups said in a statement. “This is the beginning of a process whose final aim is the silencing of organizations that don’t agree with government policies.”

Now that the legislation has passed the ministerial committee, it will be sent to the Knesset for a preliminary vote. The upcoming vote is expected to be a tough one, however, as the ruling coalition has only a two-seat majority in the Knesset and some coalition MKs have already declared that they will not support it in its current form.

Israeli Ministers Pass Contentious Bill to ‘Out’ Foreign-funded NGOs

Bill that would impose regulations on non-profit organizations being funded by foreign governments passes key legislative hurdle.

By Jonathan Lis, Haaretz
December 27, 2015

A controversial bill to impose new regulations on NGOs funded mainly by foreign governments passed an all-important hurdle on Sunday as the committee representing the cabinet approved sending it the Knesset for passage or rejection. Opponents of the bill say it unfairly targets left-wing organizations. Only two ministers were present for the vote, Ayelet Shaked (Habayit Hayehudi) and Zeev Elkin (Likud). Other ministers left notes indicating their support for the bill.

The “Transparency Bill,” sponsored by Justice Minister Shaked, would require non-profits receiving more than half of their funding from foreign governments to officially note it in their official publications. In practice, the legislation would affect left-wing organizations almost exclusively.

The legislation is expected to receive the support of all the coalition’s factions when it is put to a preliminary Knesset vote later this week, as its passage into law was promised to Hayabit Hayehudi as part of its coalition agreement with Netanyahu.

Opposition pressure

The opposition is exerting pressure on Netanyahu and coalition members to prevent the vote. Europe also expressed concern regarding the legislation in recent weeks. At the beginning of the month, four senior lawmakers from Germany warned Netanyahu that advancement of the bill would make it harder for Israel’s allies in Germany to defend it in the face of boycotts or verbal attacks.

However, according to a source close to the prime minister, at present Netanyahu isn’t planning to prevent the Knesset vote.

Shortly before Sunday’s vote by the Ministerial Committee for Legislation, opposition leader Isaac Herzog wrote on his Facebook page: “Ayelet Shaked, minister of justice – you are bringing forward a bad law, a censorious law that tarnishes our image and should not be included in Israel’s law books. This is a country that champions freedom of thought and expression and which was, until you came along, the only one in the Middle East to do so. But you are opposed to this, you want a thought police. You and the government you are part of, mainly the prime minister, want only one opinion to be heard. You are afraid of other opinions, too weak to confront anyone who disagrees with you.”

MK Michael Oren (Kulanu), a former ambassador to the United States, said he would not support the bill in its current form when it is brought to a Knesset vote. “As someone who has worked his entire life to advance the State of Israel’s foreign affairs, my conscience does not allow me to vote for the non-profits bill as it is drafted today,” he said. “The non-profits bill that is reaching a vote at the Ministerial Committee for Legislation today is a bill that could harm Israel’s foreign relations and image.

“I have no doubt,” he continued, “that left-wing non-profits such as Breaking the Silence are working to undermine the legitimacy of the State of Israel, and it is our duty as lawmakers to reveal their funding sources to the public. But such one-sided exposure, which ignores the funding sources of extreme-right non-profits, might play exactly into the hands of those elements that are trying to boycott us.”

In addition to requiring that NGOs receiving most of their funding from foreign governments note it publicly, the bill demands that the organizations provide details about that funding in any communication with elected officials. Violators of the provisions would be subject to a 29,000-shekel (about $7,500) fine. Representatives of the groups would also be required to wear a special tag at Knesset sessions.

Shaked hits back at EU

After the vote, Shaked said, “The European Union ambassador spoke out today against this bill, saying that it harms our democracy. He asked that Israel refrain from taking actions that would impede freedom of expression or association. I want to assure the ambassador that this bill will not affect freedom of expression. I believe that intervention by foreign states in the policies and regime of another country is what really endangers democracy.

It’s unacceptable that the European Union donate funds to non-profit groups that operate in Israel’s name, whereas in fact they serve as tools in the hands of foreign countries to implement their own policies.”

Shaked added, “The ambassador was also concerned that the bill would encourage ‘shaming.’ First of all, these groups that adhere to their path and positions should not be ashamed of their opinions. Secondly, I’m surprised that the ambassador and the Union aren’t taking stock of their own actions. They consider as legitimate their decision to mark produce from the settlements, even though it’s hurting Israel’s economy and population. We ask that countries wanting to interfere in Israel’s internal affairs do so openly, using customary diplomatic channels.”

The Association of Civil Rights in Israel stated, “By approving this controversial law the ministers proved that their eagerness to silence criticism is greater than their support of democracy. The only aim of this law is to politically persecute anyone voicing strong opposition to government policy. The ministers thereby harm freedom of expression, protest and organization. The law also hurts equality since it imposes different guidelines on groups that obtain funding of a certain type. Since there is already transparency regarding funding by foreign states, focusing on it while ignoring private donations is aimed at limiting only those groups the government dislikes.”

EU Critical of Proposed Israeli Law on NGOs

By VoA
December 27, 2015

The European Union is strongly protesting a newly-proposed Israeli law that would require nonprofit groups to disclose foreign sources of funding.

Most of those NGOs are highly critical of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s treatment of the Palestinians and of Jewish settlement activities in Palestinian areas.

An Israeli Army radio report Sunday cited a leaked EU document. The memo said EU ambassador Lars Faaborg-Andersen warned that the law would “have a negative impact on Israel’s image and on Europe’s relating to it as an open and democratic society.”

The leaked document quotes the ambassador as saying that what Israel is planning could bring “shame ” on some human rights groups and is something mainly seen in “tyrannical regimes.”

Israeli Cabinet ministers approved the bill Sunday. It now goes to the full parliament later this week.

The law would require NGOs that get most of their money from foreign governments or foreign-funded entities to publicly disclose the sources of their funds.

Opponents say the bill targets only so-called pro-peace groups and that pro-nationalistic nonprofits are exempt. They say the measure is a blatant attempt to stifle government critics.

Supporters say foreign governments and the European Union are meddling in Israel’s internal affairs and trying to change Israeli policies from within.

They are also angry at a new EU rule that requires Israeli exports produced on occupied territories to be labelled as coming from there.

Links

Many of the NGOs which will be affected are listed under Links on the right-hand side of the JfJfP home page.

The foreign interests paying to skew Israel’s agenda

Follow the money – foreign donors to Palestine – and Israel
NGO Monitor attacks Heinrich Boell funding for +972 and Zochrot
European court throws out claim of secret funding of pro-Palestinian NGOs
EU concerns over Israeli pressure on NGOs

Venomous attack on Breaking the Silence by Im Tirzu video, Haaretz, December 19th, 2015