Here are some projects run by Israeli non-profit organizations via foreign funding that will be gravely undermined should the despicable anti-funding law be implemented: An open clinic serving 8,000 refugees and work migrants in Tel Aviv, kindergartens in unrecognized Bedouin villages, democracy education in the Ethiopian community, legal aid to disadvantaged Israelis and community empowerment groups in development towns. No doubt, this leftist recklessness must be stopped.
While the person in charge of this law is Likud’s Ofir Akunis, the spirit is that of commander Netanyahu. The same prime minister who enjoys the traditional support of American billionaires, one of whom even set up a daily newspaper endorsing the PM.
In the previous Knesset session, Netanyahu complied with Minister Benny Begin’s request to delay the legislation in order to boost Israel’s image ahead of the United Nations showdown vis-à-vis the Palestinians. September ended peacefully, and now we can go back to uninterruptedly shattering Israel’s democracy.
The proposed law has been drafted carefully. It bans donations from foreign governments and from official foreign organizations, but does not ban donations from foreign private donors. Hence, the settlement enterprise in the occupied territories, ranging from Ofra to the last illegal outpost in Sheikh Jarrah, will not be harmed. Various billionaires and Israel-loving Christians would be able to donate to these causes with no interruption.
After all, the settlement enterprise is not funded by any government, because no sane government would grant money to a political camp that perpetuates the conflict and holds the potential to sink the whole world into a war of religions and civilizations.
Fascist coalition
This entire story about relying on “foreign funding” is a bad joke after all. Playing with fire. The State of Israel has been established and subsists based on fundraising, especially vis-à-vis foreign governments.
The law that will be presented to the ministerial legislation committee next week limits donations of foreign funds to some NIS 20,000 (roughly $6,000.) However, I am familiar with a foreign government that donates $3 billion to Israel annually. It’s called America.
Apparently, the jokers who run our lives believe that they can use the NIS 20,000 to buy a squadron of F-35s from the US so they can execute their Iran fantasies. Alternately, the desire to hurt groups like Machsom Watch and B’Tselem is apparently overriding even the little common sense left in the disgraceful, fascist coalition.
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