JERUSALEM, June 12 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that he has been pushing forward a bill to ban foreign governments from funding Israeli human rights organizations.
Speaking at a weekly meeting of his Likud faction, the hardline prime minister said a recently-approved law requiring non-profit organizations to disclose the funding received from foreign governments is not strong enough.
Netanyahu said he has asked Tourism Minister Yariv Levin to draft a new bill.
"The State of Israel needs to review the issue of foreign interventions," he said.
He said he was particularly concerned about groups that focus on the conduct of Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Netanyahu stated that he intends to change the current situation, which allows "limitless flow of money to non-profit groups that smear IDF soldiers."
Last July, the Israeli parliament, or the Knesset, passed the controversial "NGOs law," which tightens the regulation of rights groups and left-wing organizations. The law targets organizations that receive more than half of their funding from overseas governments or bodies like the European Union.
Under this law, these organizations are required to state that they receive foreign funding in their annual financial reports, all official publications, and letters and communications with lawmakers and civil servants.
In practice, the law affects almost only left-wing and human rights organizations because right-wing groups almost always rely on local donations.
Netanyahu has taken disciplinary actions against foreign diplomats who met with human rights organizations. In April, he cancelled a meeting with German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel after the latter refused to call off a meeting with Breaking the Silence, a group that documents testimonies of soldiers who served in the occupied territories, and B'Teslem, a group that documents human rights violations.
