There was an interesting bill introduced in the Israeli Knesset this week that is long overdue. It would prohibit foreign governments and international agencies from contributing more than NIS 20,000 ( about $5,366 or £3,370 as I write this) to Israeli nongovernmental organizations per year. The bill was introduced by Likud MK Ofir Okunis, and has Israeli PM Benyamin Netanyahu’s support.
According to the bill, "inciting activity undertaken by many organizations, under the cover of human rights work, has the goal of influencing political debates, and the character and the policies of the state of Israel."
In other words, Israel is finally passing legislation prohibiting foreign countries from unduly interfering in its domestic politics. And that's appropriate, since the massive donations from places like the UN and EU have gone almost exclusively to Israeli organizations on the political far Left that are well out of the mainstream, like the Meretz Party,B’Tselem, Breaking The Silence,Terrestrial Jerusalem, Yesh Din, Peace Now, Ir Amim and Gisha.And as we'll see,to 'Palestinian' groups that aren't focused on democracy or human rights in the areas they rule but on undermining Israel's very existence.
Britain's Ambassador to Israel Matthew Gould undoubtedly got a message from London, because he was quick to react by saying that the bill 'would reflect badly on Israel in the international community.'
Ambassador Gould is obviously just doing his job, passing on the sentiments of Her Majesty's government. But it's worth turning this around and asking how the UK's deliberate subversion of Israel's democracy looks to Israel.
Makor Rishon, an Israeli paper, recently published a British government document titled, “NGOs in the Middle East Funded by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.”
And it's quite interesting reading. It shows that aside from Iraq, the British government gave a grand total of £100,000 to pro-democracy NGOs throughout the Arab world.
The total during the same period given to Israel's far left organizations was much bigger, weighing in at over £600,000.Between 2003-4 and 2009-10, the UK gave a whopping total of nearly £3.8 million to NGOs in Israel. As NGO Monitor details, these groups are heavily involved in political activity against the Israeli government.
These groups are involved in pushing an agenda that has been rejected by the vast majority of Israeli voters and could almost be said to be suicidal. But the UK has so little respect for Israel's democracy that it funds them lavishly, along with the EU and other donors who could be said not to have Israel's best interests at heart.The UK itself belatedly recognized this by taking some of these groups ( Yesh Din, Ir Amim,and Gisha) off its funding list in the future while retaining others who in practice are only slightly more subtle about their agenda
And Britain's largess to 'Palestinian' groups in the Fatah-led 'Palestinian' Authority, received about 400,000 pounds. For those of you whom are math challenged, that's a 10 to 1 ratio in favor of undermining the Middle East's only democracy as opposed to creating new ones in the Arab World. The 'Palestinian' groups included Defence for Children International – Palestine Section (DCI-PS) and the Holy Land Trust, which are heavily involved in the boycotts, divestment, and sanctions campaigns against Israel.
Funding these Israeli and 'Palestinian' groups would be comparable to Britain funding Code Pink, ANSWER and The National Lawyer's Guild here in America or Israel funding Islam4UK, Muslims Against Crusades or the British National Party in the UK, except it's even worse because neither America or Britain is surrounded by genocidal enemies.
When you attempt to actively thwart the will of the citizens of a democracy, you show your utter contempt for them.It's not Israel that should be concerned about anything 'reflecting badly' but the UK.
This legislation is long overdue, and Britannia should hang its head in shame.
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