Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely (Likud) is warning European officials not to use funding to meddle in Israel’s internal affairs.
Hotovely met Tuesday on the issue with the Dutch ambassador to Israel and a delegation from the European parliament. She began the initiative several weeks ago by meeting with the EU Ambassador to Israel as well as with the foreign ministers of the Netherlands and Spain.
“Under the guise of safeguarding human rights, these organizations actually work to undermine Israel’s right to exist,” Hotovely told Ha’aretz. She noted that more than 100 million Euros have been provided to Israeli leftist groups by EU organizations over the past several years.
At the meeting, Hotovely asked the governments to cooperate with Israel in making sure funding is not given to groups who support boycotts against the Jewish State, the ‘right of return’ for endless generations of Palestinian Arab refugees and for groups who carry out activities against the IDF – including slander campaigns and/or advancing legal proceedings.
There have been numerous cases of European funding being used to support extreme leftist lobbying efforts against government policies.
Hotovely warned that if the EU governments prove unwilling to cooperate with Israel on the matter, Jerusalem will advance legislation to address the problem. She also discussed the issue at a meeting in the Foreign Ministry with members of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.
Former Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman carried out a similar effort during his tenure in office as well.