News / Palestine

Israeli bill toughens rules on NGOs, rights groups

Sunday, 27 December 2015 7:01 PM [ Last Update: Monday, 28 December 2015 8:09 AM ]

Far-right Israeli minister of judicial affairs Ayelet Shaked. (AFP photo)

The Israeli cabinet has endorsed controversial draft legislation to toughen rules on certain rights groups that expose the Zionist regime's crimes against Palestinians.

Israel's Ministerial Committee for Legislation on Sunday approved the draft which was sponsored by far-right minister of judicial affairs, Ayelet Shaked.

The bill would impose new regulations on Israeli non-profit groups that receive funds from abroad. It would also require non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to give details of all their official communications pertaining to overseas donations.

The draft legislation, which is widely expected to win the Knesset approval, will also compel staff from such NGOs to wear special identity tags when appearing before parliamentary committees.

However, private funds from overseas, such as money donated to Israeli groups that support illegal settlements in the occupied lands, are not addressed in the bill.

Dozens of Israeli rights groups active on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict receive funds either from the European Union as a whole, or individual governments, including Denmark, Sweden, Belgium and Norway.

Speaking at the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday, Shaked emphasized that she was determined to crack down on those who take foreign money and then criticize Israel.

The Israeli minister pointed to a UN inquiry into the 2014 Israeli war on Gaza, saying that the international body had relied on evidence from NGOs such as B'Tselem, Adalah and Breaking the Silence for reaching the conclusion. The probe had concluded that the senior civilian and military authorities in Tel Aviv may have been guilty of war crimes in the attack on Gaza.

Critics say the legislation is discriminatory because it mainly targets groups that oppose the Tel Aviv regime's policies toward Palestinians

Reacting to the bill, Peace Now, an Israeli NGO that opposes Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and East al-Quds (Jerusalem), called the legislation "a hate crime against democracy."

The United Nations recently slammed as “unacceptable” the harassment of both Palestinian and international human rights defenders at the hands of Israeli forces and settlers in the occupied Palestinian territories.

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