MK Michal Rozin (Meretz) called on the Knesset legal adviser to block Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked’s NGO transparency law to be presented for a first vote at the plenum Monday evening. The law will require NGOs that receive more than half their budgets from foreign political entities to mention this fact in all their official publications. Violators will be fined $7,500.
In a letter to attorney Eyal Yinon, Rosin argues that the law would discourage foreign governments from supporting, among others, human rights NGOs that support children. Rosin complained that the bill does not deal with this aspect.
According to NGO Monitor, in the period between 2012-2014, 27 Israeli NGOs associated with the left and with anti-Zionist positions, received a total sum of $65,811,236 in grants and donations, of which 65% ($42,777,017) came from governments (through direct and indirect funding) and 34% ($22,354,154) from private donors and foundations, while the source remained unclear for the remaining 1% ($680,067).
Of the 27 groups examined, 20 receive more than 50% of their funding from governments. The three NGOs receiving the highest share of foreign government funding are Yesh Din (93.5%), Terrestrial Jerusalem (91.2%), and Emek Shaveh (90.2%).
Twenty-one governmental and intergovernmental entities fund Israeli NGOs (this includes funding by the EU, UN and the Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Secretariat). The EU is the largest donor, providing $7 million, followed by Norway and Germany.
Of the $22,354,154 received in private funding, the leading foundations are the Sigrid Rausing Trust (14%), the New Israel Fund (12%), the Open Society Institute (7%), the Moriah Fund (4%), the Social Justice Fund (3%), and the Rockefeller Brothers Foundation (2%).
19% ($12,691,057) of the funding is donated by Christian groups (churches or Christian humanitarian aid organizations). Most of these institutions receive large sums of government funding. 5% of donations were given by private religious institutions and/or donors.