NGO Transparency Bill Passage Elicits Cheers and Boos
JERUSALEM, Israel – The Knesset passed the NGO transparency bill in its second and third readings on Monday, bringing cheers from conservatives and boos from liberals. Left-wing groups fear it will curtail their pro-Palestinian activities by exposing hostile foreign funding.
Sponsored by Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, the bill requires NGOs to provide specifics on overseas donations and their representatives to reveal funding sources during Knesset committee meetings.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu strongly supported the legislation, insisting that transparency is a democracy's way of ensuring the public understands how foreign governments attempt to influence Israelis.
Opposition leader Isaac Herzog denounced the bill, calling it "indicative, more than anything, of the budding fascism creeping into Israel society."
According to YNet News, almost all groups that receive 50 percent of their funding from foreign governments are designated human rights organizations.
The left-wing Peace Now group plans to petition the Supreme Court to overturn the legislation.
"While the law will delegitimize left-wing organizations, pro-settler [sic] NGOs, who receive millions of dollars in foreign donations without any transparency will remain unaffected," Peace Now said in a statement. "It is a law whose only aim is to silence and mark those who dare to voice criticism of the government or against settlements [sic]," the statement concluded.
Around 70 of the NGOs dealing with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are funded by the European Union or member states, including Belgium, Sweden and Denmark.
Shaked told Reuters Monday she expected countries to express their views via the diplomatic arena rather than "by funding millions of dollars or euros to NGOs that usually try to promote their views."
