EU criticises Israel over NGO transparency Bill

The European Union has joined Israel's opposition in condemning the "transparency Bill", voted into law by the Knesset, requiring Israeli NGOs to give details of overseas donations if more than half their funding comes from foreign governments or bodies such as the EU.

The controversial Bill was approved by a 57-48 margin late on Monday night after hours of raucous debate, and will affect 27 NGOs, almost all of them left wing and including all the major groups campaigning against Israel’s occupation of the West Bank.

Defending the measure, prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu said the law will increase transparency and strengthen democracy.

“The purpose of this law is to prevent an absurd situation in which foreign countries interfere in Israel’s internal affairs by funding NGOs without the Israeli public being aware of this.”

The EU, in a statement from Brussels, said the law went beyond the legitimate need for transparency.

"The law's requirements seem aimed at constraining the activities of civil society organisations working in Israel. Israel enjoys a vibrant democracy, freedom of speech and a diverse civil society which are an integral part of the values which Israel and the EU both hold dear. This new legislation risks undermining these values."

Intense criticism

The law requires organisations to state that they rely on foreign funding in all communication with public officials and on TV, newspapers, billboards and online. However, following intense criticism, the Bill has been significantly watered down since it was first introduced and a clause for NGO staff to be forced to wear special badges when they visited the Knesset was shelved.

Right-wing, pro-settler organisations, which receive much of their financing from private individuals, are exempt from the new regulations and do not have to disclose the identities of donors.

Justice minister Ayelet Shaked, from the far-right Jewish Home party, said she expected countries to try to influence Israel using diplomacy and not by funding millions of euros to NGOs that usually try to promote their views.

“Imagine if Israel had funded British organisations and encouraged them to back the exit from the EU. Britain has national honour. It would not have allowed Israel to meddle in its internal affairs.”

Opposition leader Yitzhak Herzog said the Bill made a "mockery" of the "right to organise". "The NGO law . . . is indicative, more than anything, of the budding fascism creeping into Israeli society."

Other opposition lawmakers compared the measure to authoritarian policies in Russia and Saudi Arabia.

The anti-settlement group Peace Now announced it will challenge the law in Israel’s supreme court. “While the law will delegitimise left-wing organisations, pro-settler NGOs who receive millions of dollars in foreign donations without any transparency will remain unaffected.”