New bill seeks heavy tax on foreign government-funded NGOs

A new bill aims to impose heavy taxes on organizations that receive the majority of their funding from foreign governments.

The bill, submitted by Deputy Speaker of the Knesset, MK Nava Boker (Likud), would impose a maximum tax rate of 45% and strip the income-tax exemption from organizations who are primarily funded by foreign governments.

The bill’s explanatory notes state that the legislation is intended to “reduce the involvement of foreign governmental entities” by means of Israeli organizations that do “substantial harm to the State of Israel’s basic character and sovereignty.”

Based previous years’ statistics, organizations primarily funded by foreign governments receive an average annual sum of 55 million shekels ($15 million) from foreign governments. A tax rate of 45% would see the return of some 25 million shekels ($6.7 million) to the public coffers.

There are some 25 organizations registered in Israel that receive the majority of their funding from foreign governments, including the far-left NGOs “Adalah” and “HaMoked” that defend terrorists in court, and “Coalition of Women for Peace” and “Who Profits” that promote the BDS movement.

Other such NGOs include “Zochrot,” which works to eliminate the Jewish character of the State Israel by promoting the resettlement of millions of Palestinian Arabs in Israel, and “Yesh Din,” which accuses IDF soldiers of perpetrating war crimes and petitions Israel’s Supreme Court against the IDF.

“The industry of lies against Israel generates millions of dollars a year,” said MK Boker, “and the ones profiting from this anti-Semitic propaganda are Israeli citizens who are agents of the BDS movement.”

Boker continued: “This bill aims to end the cash flow from international institutions to Israeli NGOs and make it difficult for them to intervene in Israel’s security affairs. That is the only way to prevent these traitors from wreaking destruction on us.”

Matan Peleg, CEO of the Zionist organization Im Tirtzu that has been one of the most vocal critics of foreign governmental funding, said that this phenomenon is anti-democratic at its core.

“Rather than respecting the wishes of the Israeli public to determine their own policy at the ballot box, foreign governments are bypbading the public by funding organizations that work to change the country from within while simultaneously encouraging international pressure against Israel.”

“This is how we have a situation,” continued Peleg, “where millions of dollars pour into these organizations that work to eliminate the Jewish identity of the state, to defend terrorists in court, and to promote delegitimization against IDF soldiers.”