It is not Israel’s enemies around the world who are perplexed by the behavior of its current government. In fact, they have no better asset. Rather, it is Israel’s friends – allies who rallied in solidarity when it was forced to take military action against Hamas after the barbaric outrage of October 7, and expended political capital in doing so – who are not only perplexed, but have had enough.
Britain, France, and Canada made clear last week they could no longer countenance the human cost of interminable war, with no tangible vision for how it ends.
There is seemingly no strategy, certainly not one that could justify further death and destruction on the scale seen in Gaza, or the inevitable further loss of Israeli soldiers.
Denying humanitarian aid and then grudgingly opening the tap, merely to avoid accusations of creating famine, is a further disgrace, notwithstanding valid concerns about Hamas hijacking aid.
If backing such a policy is what is required to be pro-Israel, we are asking too much.
Even US President Donald Trump, who would be hard to label a member of the “leftist deep state,” has become impatient, bypassing the Netanyahu government to negotiate the release of Edan Alexander, noting his concern about the plight of the people of Gaza and snubbing Israel on a recent visit to the region.
Majority of Israelis support ceasefire
Poll after poll shows the majority of Israelis, around 70%, would support a deal that brings all the hostages home and ends the fighting. A case could be made that Israel’s critical allies are more aligned with the wishes of the Israeli people than their own government.
While I have not seen a convincing justification for renewing hostilities in Gaza while the terms of a ceasefire were in place, there is also no strategy thereafter, other than that of reoccupation articulated by some members of the government. You can’t extinguish an extremist ideology without removing the oxygen that feeds it. This renewed and expanded war and, heaven forbid, reoccupation does the opposite.
It is shameful – a hillul Hashem – that the liberation of all the hostages, living and dead, is not the top priority of this government. Last week a Likud MK denigrated returned hostages, many of whom oppose the expansion of the war, as “brainwashed by Hamas.” It might be nauseating to give such comments attention, but we need to grasp the contempt that some in the ruling coalition have for their own people.
The people can hold their leaders to account at the ballot box in due course. In the meantime, avoiding accountability seems to be among this government’s highest priorities. It is more energized by defeating its perceived domestic enemies than by strengthening the international alliances necessary to keep Israel’s external foes at bay. Given a choice between nurturing international support and penalizing domestic opposition, it chooses the latter.
New bill will cripple organizations and civil society
Hence the legislation brought before the Knesset earlier this month to put an astonishing 80% tax on all donations received by Israeli NGOs from foreign states unless those NGOs receive support from the Israeli state. The bill would also permit the finance minister, currently Bezalel Smotrich, to allow NGOs to avoid the tax at his discretion. The new bill will, deliberately, cripple almost 100 organizations that form the backbone of Israel’s civil society.
It is an insult to the democratic states that provide funding for them. Their donations will dry up, and many of the most marginalized and vulnerable in Israel – whether Jews, Arabs, or other at-risk communities such as asylum-seekers – will suffer as a result.
Meanwhile, as the government pursues policies that flout the wishes of the majority of Israelis, the bill will devastate organizations that scrutinize its conduct. Some NGO activities are inconvenient for the current and indeed any government, and even uncomfortable for us as lovers of Israel – there are times when I have been opposed to some initiatives. But the discomfort of scrutiny is a prerequisite for democracy.
The bill is also an insult to Jewish philanthropists around the world. Many of the organizations targeted were established with Diaspora funding. That is one reason I, along with other Zionist philanthropists, have written to Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, urging him to consider the damage it would do to Israel’s relationships with democratic allies, to its partnerships with world Jewry, and to its reputation as a liberal democracy. It is far more akin to the policies of authoritarian regimes seeking to stifle democratic movements than those of a democratic state that upholds values of freedom, pluralism, and tolerance for dissent.
Crippling Israel’s civil society, which we recall stepped in to fill the vacuum when the government was found wanting in the chaos following October 7, will not by any rational measure make Israel safer or more secure. It will merely remove an obstacle to those in this government who wish to reoccupy Gaza, annex the West Bank, advance the constitutional assault launched in 2023, and make obsolete the foundational Zionist concept of a state that is both Jewish and democratic.
Israel is hemorrhaging support at a time it needs it most. The international coalition that last year helped blunt Iran’s missile bombardment showed that Israel’s alliances are as important as ever. Israel should, rightly, expect support from allies as it faces down external threats. It should think twice about impeding the support of those same allies for Israeli NGOs just because they are inconvenient for this government.
Political power in liberal democracies is temporary. If and when those passing this bill find themselves in opposition, the legislation they introduce now could in the future be used to penalize their preferred organizations and projects. Autocratic legislation can only lead to autocratic outcomes, whoever is in power.
There is no more righteous cause than the self-determination of the Jewish people in its own land. But the values laid out in Israel’s Declaration of Independence of a democratic, law-based state, fairness across society, and the pursuit of secure peace are being assaulted daily from within. Israel’s NGOs play a crucial role in upholding and strengthening those values. They are part of the fabric of the Jewish people.
This bill is not only an attack on NGOs but on the democratic foundations of Israel. It antagonizes allies. It alienates Diaspora Jews. It is undemocratic, and it should be scrapped.
The writer is co-founder of The London Initiative, a former CEO of the British Conservative Party, and past chairman of the UK Jewish Leadership Council.