One of the dramatic post-October 7 realizations in Israel has been the recognition that we have been consistently manipulated by foreign governments and related entities in their efforts to impact Israeli policy.
While this has been a state of affairs that Im Tirtzu has been highlighting for several years, the recent intensified focus on “deep state” issues has made this manipulation more visible – and unacceptable.
The government, recognizing the potential subtle toxicity of the influence and control that foreign political funding can have on Israeli social and political discourse, has decided to strike a blow against such impact.
There is now a bill making its way through the Knesset that would tax donations received by Israeli NGOs from foreign political entities by as much as 80% of the donation received.
The applicable entities would be foreign governments, or quasi-governments such as the United Nations and the European Union, as well as NGOs that are used by them as conduits for donations by the governments themselves. They would not include private foundations or individuals.
Thanks to years of revelations of this foreign patron/Israeli foreign agent relationship, it is increasingly clear that we have no need, let alone desire to give these countries and their cronies free rein in trying to influence Israeli governmental policy through the offices of anti-Zionist Israeli NGOs.
Numbers are staggering
These Israeli NGOs enjoy very little popular support, but thanks to consistent and high-level foreign political funding, they have loud voices and significant leverage.
From 2012 through 2024, more than NIS 2.4 billion was contributed to 485 organizations, with hateful entities such as B’Tselem receiving more than NIS 83 million, while Breaking the Silence received more than NIS 50 million.
Well-financed organizations have the will, and the wherewithal, to barrage the High Court of Justice with hundreds of petitions designed to counter the war effort, the treatment of terrorist prisoners or any number of government policies.
Their loud voices are invariably designed to undermine the government, which the foreign entities have come to understand is a better way of trying to influence Israeli policy than via a frontal assault.
Now the governing coalition recognizes that the opportunity is ripe for addressing this arrangement. The bill is just beginning its legislative voyage, so it will undoubtedly be tweaked, expanded, and altered.
Ideological and practical
However, its thrust is both ideological and practical. On the ideological level: Why should foreign political money be, in effect, subsidized and even enhanced by Israeli taxpayers in the form of tax-free donation power?
Why would the government facilitate those who are seeking to counter or undermine it? The common-sense answer to that question – that it wouldn’t – underlies the self-evident need for this change.
On a practical level: Taxing such donations sends a clear message as to the awareness of what the patron/agent relationship is about – and hopefully lessens its impact by depleting the agents of much of their funding.
There is a strong awareness that, should the law pass, it must be administered with an eye to reality, to the fact that there will be exceptions that can be carved out or situations that should not be subject to the law. For example, assistance provided by foreign governments to Holocaust survivors and their families would be an obvious exemption from taxation applicability.
Addressing the High Court
Again, the choreography here is intricate and effective. Foreign powers have no ability to address our High Court, but they can do so through the offices of the Israeli NGOs that they underwrite.
One of the current provisions of the bill would be to preclude, either in full or in part, the ability of Israeli NGOs that receive a majority of their funding from foreign governments or other deemed foreign political entities to petition the High Court.
This is an effort to break the chain of action that effectively allows foreign entities to have standing and a voice before our High Court.
While there has long been a desire to implement a law that would diminish the impact of foreign funding, the heightened sensitivity to destructive foreign influences, such as UNRWA and Al Jazeera, has intensified the perceived importance of not undercutting the effectiveness of our amazing soldiers on the battlefield by being oblivious on the home front.
A law whose time has come
The law is a recognition that Israel must protect itself, preserve itself, and do all that it is in its power to make sure that we are not allowing others to take advantage of the openness and liberality of our society in order to undercut us.
There is no nobility in not standing up for ourselves. If others want to oppose us, we should not be assisting them or making their efforts more effective.
The Knesset has the chance now to strike a blow for self-defense and common sense protection. A new law cannot happen soon enough.
The writer is the chairman of the board of Im Tirtzu and a director of the Israel Independence Fund.