Once again, members of the government coalition have
introduced legislation to tax and curtail foreign government funding for
non-governmental organizations (NGOs), aiming at groups involved in
boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS), anti-Israel lawfare, racist
activities and the undermining of Israel as a Jewish and democratic
state.
Clearly and justifiably, after the widely critical
headlines and a pro-forma vote, this legislation is going to be buried
following the opposition of the minister of justice, and the concerns
voiced by the attorney general. But this shouldn't be the end of the
matter.
Now is the time to ask whether the prime minister and
senior cabinet members, including the defense and foreign ministers, are
really serious about initiating a confrontation on foreign (mainly
European) government-funded campaigns against Israel led by political
NGOs. And instead of problematic draft legislation, which is immediately
exploited to promote campaigns that demonize Israel as anti-democratic
and anti-human rights, the government should produce a coherent and
potentially effective long-term strategy to defend Israel's sovereignty.
The demonization campaign singling out Israel was launched
in 2001 by 1500 groups claiming to promote human rights at the UN
Anti-Racism Conference's NGO Forum held in Durban - and the consequences
are serious. The tens of millions of euros, pounds, and krona provided
by European governments to groups that exploit universal moral
principles are gradually leading to the political isolation of Israel.
The goals of this political war go far beyond ending the occupation, but
rather seek to reverse the international acceptance of Jewish sovereign
equality among the nations - the essence of Zionism.
For over a decade, anti-Israel activists have tapped the
funds made available by the European Union and a number of European
governments, under the rubric of initiatives developed to promote human
rights, democracy and peace, to specifically target Israel. This
process, aided by a small number of European government officials with
their own agendas, takes place in secret, in violation of the accepted
practices of good governance and democracy. Most European parliament
members are kept in the dark, and journalists are unaware of the central
role of this funding to promote political warfare. As a result, a small
number of zealots calling themselves "civil society activists" are able
to promote private agendas through propagating the myths of Israeli
"war crimes" and "apartheid" without oversight.
This threat is not the exclusive concern of the political
right. Instead of scoring a few domestic political points by proposing
dead-end and counterproductive legislation, a much wider approach is
clearly necessary. An effective Israeli strategy would need to involve
the Zionist center (such as Yesh Atid), and the center-left, including
the Labor party, with the involvement of its new leader Yitzhak Herzog,
and other MKs who have been active in opposing delegitimization such as
Nachman Shai and former MK Dr. Einat Wilf.
Indeed, if the goal is to build a wider cross-party
strategy to effectively fight a 21st century political war that pivots
on the use of NGO 'soft power', then restrictive legislation in Israel's
Knesset may be the worst option.
Instead, the Israeli political leadership, across the
board, should be taking the issue to Europe, demanding and using all
available leverage to end the secrecy in the funding processes. In
government and allocation of taxpayer funds, sunshine is the best
medicine, while secrecy and the lack of transparency invite corruption,
in different forms. Government funding from the EU, UK, Norway, the
Netherlands or other countries, to dozens of groups that exploit human
rights principles for political purposes is a form of moral corruption.
If the MKs who introduced the latest legislation would instead have held
a press conference with colleagues in the European parliament in
Brussels to make this case, the impact would have been significantly
greater.
A sustained effort focused on Europe, led by Prime Minister
Netanyahu, and involving the elected representatives of all the Zionist
parties, is clearly needed and urgent. This issue should be on the top
of all Israeli encounters with European leaders, such as the recent
visit of the Dutch prime minister and other leaders. In keeping with the
21st century emphasis on moral arguments and public diplomacy, these
leaders could be told that funding for anti-Israel political NGOs might
equally be exploited to justify foreign interference to support Basque
separatists in Spain, Scottish and Welsh nationalists in the UK, and
fringe groups that falsely accuse European leaders of war crimes in the
Balkans, Iraq or Afghanistan.
Rather than passing legislation that infringes upon
democratic values and invites further demonization of Israel, the
emphasis should be on holding Europe accountable for its destructive
anti-Israel NGO funding policies. There are certainly more than enough
positive and constructive causes out there truly worthy of their
support.
Gerald M. Steinberg is a professor of political science at
Bar Ilan University and President of NGO Monitor, a Jerusalem based
research institute.
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