The Ministerial Law committee on Sunday authorized for its first reading a bill by MKs Ofir Akunis (Likud) and Robert Eliatov (Yisrael Beiteinu) that would prevent non-profit organizations from receiving donations from foreign governments. The committee approved the bill with 16 MKs in favor, and only five against. The law is expected to mostly affect leftist groups, who are big recipients of grants from the EU, Britain, and other foreign countries and organizations.
MKs and groups on the right praised the approval. In a statement, the Im Tirzu movement said that it was “about time that the Knesset put an end to the mischief caused by foreign governments.” MK Tzippy Hotovely (Likud) said that it was Israel's right to conduct its affairs according to the wishes of the majority of Israelis, without interference from foreign groups. Bayit Yehudi chairman Minister of Science Daniel Hershkowitz said that the EU was not interested in human rights, but in ending Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria.