U.S. Ambassador Criticizes Anti-NGO Law
The U.S. ambassador to Israel, Dan Shapiro, recently relayed a message to senior members of the Prime Minister’s Office that the Obama administration is concerned by proposed legislation that will potentially limit funding by foreign governments for nonprofit organizations. Shapiro said the proposed legislation is much more extreme than U.S. law or similar laws in western democracies.
An Israeli source says Shapiro spoke on the subject with the national security adviser, Yaakov Amidror, and the PM’s political adviser, Ron Dermer, some 10 days ago.
The ambassador stressed that he was instructed by the State Department to make clear to Israel the U.S. stance on the law on funding NGOs.
The exchange between Shapiro and the two senior advisers took place before the drafting of the latest version of the bill, agreed by Cabinet Secretary Zvi Hauser, MK Ofir Akunis (Likud) and representatives of Yisrael Beiteinu.
Shapiro said claims that the bill, proposed by Yisrael Beiteinu MK Faina Kirshenbaum, is a translation of the American law is not correct.
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and others in Yisrael Beiteinu have argued that the bill which Kirshenbaum proposed is an accurate translation of American law.
According to Kirshenbaum’s proposed bill, a 45 percent tax would be levied on contributions received by Israeli NGOs from foreign countries. The new version of the bill will have to pass through a hearing before the Knesset Finance Committee.
The U.S. Embassy in Israel provides funding for a number of NGOs. Examples include NGOs that encourage the teaching of English, coexistence between Jews and Arabs, and bolstering the standing of women in the Bedouin communities.
Shapiro said that all projects funded by the U.S. government are apolitical and are not controversial. However, he added, the bill is too broad and therefore there are concerns that NGOs aided by the U.S. administration will be harmed.
For more, go to Haaretz.com
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
