Israel’s Ministerial Committee for Legislation approves new NGO foreign funding bill
On 27 December 2015, Israel's Ministerial Committee for Legislation approved a reading of the latest "NGO Bill" (officially titled the "Law on the disclosure requirements for recipients of funding from a foreign political entity - Increased transparency").
According to the text approved by the Committee, representatives of human rights organizations will be required to wear badges not only in the Knesset, but also in any meeting or hearing held at the workplace of a public or elected official. In addition, the bill states that an organization that has more than 50% of its budget financed by foreign countries must declare this fact in all official documents with civil servants and states bodies. Any breach of these conditions will result in a fine of NIS 29,000.
Adalah commented in response that, "This bill resembles the laws of history's criminal regimes, and seeks not only to humiliate human rights groups but also to incite against them. The bill is designed to continue Israel's occupation of the Palestinian people, its violations of international law, and its racial discrimination against Palestinian citizens of Israel, without any opposition from human rights organizations.
Adalah had previously stated in November 2015, when the bill was first published, that "The purpose of this bill is to mark groups that express dissenting views and criticize the government's policies. The Justice Minister should know that all registered associations, including Adalah, provide through reporting under the Law of the Financial Registrar, which includes information on all funding sources, and can even be found on the websites of the organizations. Financial assistance from international sources is acceptable and necessary in places and regimes where there are serious problems of human rights violations. We therefore believe that the proposal is intended to persecute and incite against human rights organizations, a practice which characteristic of past and present dark regimes."
