The File
Foreign governments fund domestic political organizations in Israel at a scale that produced its own disclosure law. This file documents the law and the funding pattern it was written to surface.
The Documented Record
The Knesset passed the NGO transparency amendment on July 11, 2016, by 57 to 48, requiring organizations receiving a majority of funding from foreign political entities to disclose it in publications and before Knesset committees. [DOCUMENTED]
The amendment strengthened a 2011 disclosure law and took effect January 1, 2017, with fines of about 29,000 shekels for violations. [DOCUMENTED]
The Justice Ministry identified roughly 27 organizations affected by the law, nearly all human rights NGOs receiving majority funding from foreign governments, per contemporaneous reporting. [DOCUMENTED]
What the Record Does Not Establish
The law's critics call it a targeting instrument and its defenders call it sunlight; the record establishes only what it requires and whom it covers. Specific grant amounts from specific European governments belong to the registrar filings themselves and are not asserted here beyond the ministry's own count of covered organizations.
Sources
- Israel: Disclosure Requirements for Organizations Funded by Foreign Political Entities, Library of Congress, 2016
- After contentious debate, Knesset passes NGO law, The Times of Israel, 2016
- Knesset passes NGO transparency law, Knesset press release, 2016
Connected Files
ISR-001 documents the domestic fight this funding layer runs beneath. NGO-001 documents the Western content-moderation version of state-adjacent NGO influence.