The Israeli Twittersphere reacted strongly to the decision of the Ministerial Committee for Legislation in the Knesset, approving two bills that would heavily tax foreign donations of human rights non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and would severely limit the amounts the organizations are allowed to receive funding.
This legislation was supported by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and due to Israel's parliamentary system, once the coalition endorses the bill, it is most likely to pass in the plenum, where the coalition holds the majority of seats. The votes in the plenum regarding these two pieces of legislation are expected in the coming weeks. If the law passes, human rights NGOs are expected to appeal against it at the Supreme Court, demanding that the law be struck down.
The Israeli Attorney General and the Ministry of Justice have warned the committee that the law is unconstitutional (opposes Israel's Basic Laws) and is “very likely” to be struck down by the Supreme Court.
Hagai El-Ad, the Executive Director of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, one of the organizations that would have their funding cut as a result of these bills, wrote that the bills do not reflect the will of the Israeli public, which spent the summer protesting for social justice:
The summer passed, the Knesset’s recess was finally over. Hardly a week or two passed. Has the Knesset opted to now devote its time to what had preoccupied the public all summer, or rather return to anti-democratic-business-as-usual?
So far, the answer is quite clear, and it is a slap in the public’s face. Social legislation? The coalition votes against. Anti-democratic legislation? The coalition is vigorously pursuing this agenda, as if the summer never happened.
Ziv Pug also pointed out the disconnection between the social justice protests in Israel and the government's actions, listing the bills the Knesset has turned down since returning from recess [he]:
Ran Cohen, the Executive Director of Physicians for Human Rights, another NGO that would have its funding cut, reacted on Twitter [he]:
Others discussed the implication of the bills on Israel's democracy.
Blogger Haim Har-Zahav wrote [he]:
Avishai Burla wrote [he]:
Blogger Noam R. wrote [he]:
A widely-shared photo on Facebook, originally posted by We Won't Shut Up, a campaign by a coalition of leftist NGOs, congratulated Israel:
"Congrats to the government of Israel! For joining the exclusive club of countries that place limitations on foreign funding for NGO! Signed: Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Sierra Leon, Belarus, China"
Others pointed out the hypocrisy in this legislation, considering Netanyahu's election campaign was mostly funded by foreign donors, and the newspaper supporting him, Yisrael Hayom, is funded by the American casino-tycoon, Sheldon Adelson.
A fake account of Yisrael Hayom, the pro-Netanyahu paper, posted [he]:
Daniel K appealed to the United States:
@dkapuchino: Hey, @barackobama @ronpaul Israel just voted to ban foreign donations to political NGOs. Does that cover US foreign aid to the IDF as well?
Blogger Itamar Shaltiel responded [he]:
