The influential anti-Zionist organizations in Israel are funded by European Union member states, a researcher for the Institute for Zionist Strategy told Arutz Sheva. The researcher, Adi Arbel, said that European states achieve their aim of influencing Israeli policies by funding groups like Peace Now, Adallah, Yesh Din and B'Tselem.
Arbel said that it was time to legislate laws that would fight this phenomenon. “In the United States there is a law called the 'Foreign Agent Registration Act',” he explained. “Organizations that receive funds from foreign governments have to work in complete transparency and publish proper disclosure regarding every position paper or research that they publish, and say who funded it. The purpose is very clear – to have laws here in Israel, too, that will make it mandatory to have the same transparency as in the US and that will show everyone where the money to these groups comes from.”
Arbel said he was convinced that if this legislation passes, those countries would cease transferring funds to Israeli leftist groups. “These countries find it convenient to work secretly through those non-governmental organizations (NGOs). It is their indirect way of influencing what goes on in Israel. If those EU countries are exposed, they will stop transferring contributions.”
The NGOs in question cause Israel great damage, he went on to say. “We saw that they take their information outside. They took out information to the Durban racism conference which made declarations against Israel, and they sent information to Judge Goldstone, who based his report on them.”
Arbel said that the anti-Zionist groups have been exerting political pressure to try and prevent the information about their funding: “We organized a conference with Minister Michael Eitan and we invited those groups to come to the discussions. In response, they wrote a joint letter asking leftist MKs not to participate in the conference. That is why MK Daniel Ben Simon from Labor did not come and other MKs from Meretz also were missing. They want to silence us and this is strange, considering the fact that these are organizations that represent democracy.”