As EU Budget Rapporteur 2019, I have been shocked to find out that the far-left and anarchist organizations protesting outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s house in Balfour Street in Jerusalem are allegedly financed from abroad, mainly by the EU and Germany.
On Sept. 30th, Likud MK and chair of the Caucus on Combating Delegitimization & Anti-Semitism Ariel Kallner wrote to German ambassador Dr. Susanne Wasum-Rainer to complain about German funding for left-wing Human Rights Defenders Fund (HRDF), which provides legal defense to the violent protestors.
As Chairman of the Knesset Caucus on Combating Delegitimization, Kallner wrote: “I would like to express my sincere concern about this intervention in Israel’s internal affairs that constitutes an undermining of its sovereignty.”
In her answer of Oct. 5, German Ambassador Dr. Susanne Wasum-Rainer denied the allegations. She claimed the German Government “does not support or fund any violent or illegal activities of civil society organizations”, and that “any organization or project funded by the Federal German government has successfully passed a thorough and transparent screening process.”
There is actually nothing transparent about German and EU funding of anti-Israel NGOs. The European Court of Auditors stated in 2018 “that the Commission was not sufficiently transparent regarding the implementation of EU funds by NGOs.”
My own party, the pro-Israel Alternative for Germany (AfD), posed a formal query to the German government July 13, asking how much funding Berlin provides to which NGOs in Israel and the PA. In its answer Aug. 7, the German government informed us (and the taxpayers we represent in Parliament) that this funding is Classified, because “organizations of civil society are victims of threats and repression” in Israel. It was not clear who the German government was accusing of “threats and repression” except possibly Israeli authorities.
According to NGO Monitor, Human Rights Defenders Fund received €58,940 from the German government 2018. According to our research on the EU Financial Transparency System, HRDF received €299,988 from the EU 2019.
According to press reports, the NGO HaMoked - Center for the Defense of the Individual is also involved in the legal defense of violent anti-Netanyahu protestors. According to NGO Monitor, HaMoked received €884,164 from the tax-funded church charity Misereor Germany in 2018, and €667,049 from the EU.
This information is not widely known in Germany. When my office contacted several leading German newspapers that usually report fairly on Israel with this explosive information, including “Die Welt” and “Bild”, we were told they were aware of it and were working on it. Still, no one has reported on this in Germany, even one month after Kallner’s letter.
When German foreign minister Heiko Maas visited Israel in June, angry victim’s families protested German and European financing for HaMoked, which defends terrorists and murderers, as Arutz Sheva reported. According to NGO Monitor, HaMoked is funded by the EU (2018: €667,049; 2017: €605,615) and by Misereor Germany (2018: €884,164). This was also not reported in German mainstream media, only on alternative “right-wing” media.
The NGO Standing Together which is organizing the violent protests outside the family home of the Israeli Prime Minister, is also financed by the German government and the party foundations of the German Left and Green parties, Kallner said, based on information from the Israeli Registrar of Associations. Standing Together was funded by the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation (Left Party) with €38.825, the Heinrich Böll Foundation (Greens) with €10,075 and the German government’s Civil Peace Service (ZFD) with €11,200.
As EU Parliament Budget Rapporteur 2019, I am appalled and shocked by these revelations, and will examine this thoroughly, including the classified files. If these accusations are true, this will be reprimanded in my budget report.
Joachim Kuhs is a trained Auditor. He is a member of the AfD National Committee, head of the “Christians in the AfD” and member of the Budget Committee in the EU Parliament. He visited Judea and Samaria in 2019 with a delegation of the “Jews in the AfD”. Joachim lives in Baden-Baden, has 10 children and 12 grandchildren.