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Summary: [BETHLEHEM, 14 November 2011] - Israeli human rights groups on Sunday condemned an Israeli ministerial committee's approval of two bills set to choke foreign funding to organisations in the country. Israeli military watchdog B'Tselem pledged "this government will not silence us," after lawmakers passed the measures restricting foreign contributions to 20,000 shekels ($5,400) a year and hiking tax on donations, targeted at non-governmental organisations. Critics say the bills will stifle free speech by organisations that oppose Israel's policies towards Palestinians. "B'Tselem will be silent only when human rights violations in the Occupied Territories cease," the statement from the group said. "Every democracy needs human rights organisations and B'Tselem makes Israel a better place ... the (Israeli) government is the one that is bringing Israel's international standing to a new low." The Association for Civil Rights in Israel called the measures a "severe affront to Israel’s democratic character and part of a larger effort on the part of specific (lawmakers) to curtail the work of human rights and social change organisations whose agenda and/or activities differ from their political views." Settlement-monitoring group Peace Now said the legislation was "disturbing." The proposed law "stifles dissenting voices -- deprives Israelis of access to independent sources of information and to a range of opinions," a statement on the group's website said. Israel's opposition leaders also rallied against the measures, set for a series of parliamentary votes before making the law books. Labour leader Shelly Yachimovich said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government had set out to "declare war against the judicial system, injure free specch and push itself further away from the democratic, enlightened world," Israeli daily Haaretz reported. Kadima head Tzipi Livni said the coalition government was promoting "silencing" bills. Each member of the Israeli cabinet was "trying to prove he was more nationalist than his peers," Haaretz quoted the official opposition leader saying. Netanyahu conditionally backs the measure, although it has drawn protests from European diplomats, officials in his office told Reuters, adding that he had urged lawmakers to double the funding limit and exempt humanitarian groups from the restrictions. Further Information:
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel called the measures a "severe affront to Israel’s democratic character and part of a larger effort on the part of specific (lawmakers) to curtail the work of human rights and social change organisations whose agenda and/or activities differ from their political views."