Background: Israel’s Knesset just approved a preliminary vote for an anti-NGO bill, that, should it become law, would: (1) Impose an 80% tax on any donation from foreign governments to civil society organizations; (2) No longer require courts to consider petitions submitted by NGOs when the majority of their funding comes from foreign governments (3) Give the finance minister the authority to exempt any NGO from this law (4) Automatically exempts all NGOs that receive Israeli government funding.
On Sunday, February 16, the Ministerial Committee for Legislation voted to put the bill in motion. On Wednesday, February 19, this bill passed its preliminary reading in the Israeli Knesset. In the wake of this news, CEO of the New Israel Fund Daniel Sokatch released the following statement:
“First they came for the Supreme Court. Now they’re coming for civil society—again. The anti-NGO bill that just passed its preliminary reading in the Israeli Knesset would impose an 80% tax on donations from foreign governments sources to civil society organizations. To be clear: the foreign government’s we are talking about are Israel’s best friends and allies in the world, not hostile powers. The bill would also take away the right of organizations that receive a majority of funding from those sources to seek justice in Israeli courts. And you won’t be surprised to learn that the bill includes ways for the government to exempt organizations that share its hardline agenda. This is a potentially mortal blow for dozens of human rights and civil rights organizations, among them many long-time NIF grantees.
“This bill claims to be about protecting Israeli citizens from “foreign agents”— but that’s just a smokescreen. It is about silencing critics of the government. It is the next stage in the judicial coup.
“This bill drastically shrinks Israel’s democratic space—it takes aim at organizations whose agenda and values are at odds with this current government. Our values. The values of free speech, equality, and giving people the power to organize, demand change for the better, and win. The right of legal aid organizations to petition courts to help those who have been discriminated against, physically hurt, or simply tossed aside by the state. These are all things this bill would do away with. It effectively seeks to shut down the human rights sector. This is not what democracy looks like.
“This bill is coming for all Israelis, Jews and Arabs alike. Most people— American Jews, Israelis, Palestinians, and others—want to see more democracy in Israel, not less. But further weakening Israeli democracy is exactly what this bill is designed to do. We must do everything in our power to stop it.”