Minister Avigdor Lieberman (file)
Minister Avigdor Lieberman (file)Israel news photo: Flash 90

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman listed the groups that are to be investigated for foreign funding by the parliamentary committee of inquiry that the Knesset voted to establish last week. The committee is likely to be headed by MK Fiona Kirshenbaum of Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu, "Israel is Our Home" faction, who also proposed its establishment.

Speaking before the start of a meeting of his Knesset faction, Lieberman also hurled barbs at members of the nationalist camp who opposed the establishment of the committee of inquiry. He called these unnamed politicians "rhinoceroses" - a term taken from a play by Eugène Ionesco that is used to refer to conformists who lose their moral compasses.
 
Lieberman named some of the organizations that he believes should be investigated, to find out where their money comes from. 
  • B'Tselem, which reports on IDF and government activity in Judea, Samaria and Gaza.
  • Arab advocacy group Adallah, a leading New Israel Fund grantee, which has not filed financial reports since 2007, according to Lieberman.
  • The Association for Civil Rights in Israel - another flagship group of the New Israel Fund - Yesh Din, Doctors for Human Rights in Israel, Gisha and the Center for Defense of the Individual, which co-signed (along with Adalah) a letter to the Goldstone Commission accusing the IDF of targeting civilians, mosques and schools.
  • New Profile - a self-described feminist pacifist group that encourages youths to avoid service in the army. Lieberman said that the group has received hundreds of thousands of shekels from unknown sources abroad.
  • The Public Council Against Torture - which the Foreign Minister said received donations from unknown sources, as well as foreign governments and an Arab organization.
  • Human Rights Watch - Lieberman quoted a report that said the organization has collected funds in Saudi Arabia.
  • Ataja - an umbrella group of Arab organizations whose former head, Amir Mahoul, recently admitted charges of espionage.
Lieberman pointed out that the Ford Foundation supports anti-Israeli groups in Gaza, as well as undermining Israel through the New Israel Fund.
 
"One day after Operation Cast Lead began, the New Israel Fund sent out a letter calling to end the operation," he noted. "When you look at all of these facts, you ask - why didn't they protest Gilad Shalit's situation even once? It is obvious that these groups have no connection to human rights, and that they never said that Israel is right about anything."
 
The Foreign Minister said that it was "strange" to see members of the nationalist camp voting alongside Arab MKs against the committee of inquiry. "The Right has never truly succeeded in governing [according to] its world view... because of these 'rhinoceroses' who are always busy proving how just they are." He went on to call the nationalists who vote with the Left 'feinshmekers' - a sarcastic Yiddish word for artsy connoisseurs.