Weinstein tells PM he can't defend NGO bills

Attorney-General Yehuda Weinstein on Tuesday warned Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu that he would not be able to legally defend bills restricting foreign funding of NGOs.

Weinstein said in a letter to Netanyahu, obtained by Israeli media on Tuesday, that the proposed legislation was unconstitutional.

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"The bills severely damage a number of constitutional rights, including freedom of expression, freedom of association and the right to equality."

Weinstein added in the letter that the passage of the laws would put Israel in a category with pariah states that have taken similar action.

The bills seemed all but dead after an appeal from Minister-without-Portfolio Bennie Begin thwarted them.

However, last week, Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman requested that MKs Ophir Akunis (Likud) and Faina Kirschenbaum (Israel Beitenu) draft a new NGO bill, which the Ministerial Committee on Legislation is expected to authorize in the coming days.

The measure seeks to limit foreign-government funding to political organizations.

Following Netanyahu’s call for Akunis to further clarify and define which organizations are political, the new version of the bill divides NGOs into three categories, combining elements of both MKs’ original bills.

The new draft, which is signed by both Akunis and Kirschenbaum, forbids any foreign- government donations to NGOs that rejects Israel’s right to exist; incites racism; supports violence against Israel; supports putting Israeli politicians and IDF soldiers on trial in international courts; calls for boycotts of the state; or for IDF soldiers to refuse orders.

In addition, donations from within Israel to such organizations will be subject to a 45 percent tax.

Political organizations, such as B’Tselem or Peace Now, will also have to pay a 45% tax on donations.

However, they will have the option of undergoing a hearing in the Knesset Finance Committee, which may decide to waive the tax.

Non-political organizations that receive state funding will be tax-exempt and may receive unlimited donations from foreign governments.

This category includes Magen David Adom and the Hebrew University, among other NGOs.

The ministerial committee originally approved Kirschenbaum’s bill, which would levy a 45% tax on foreign governments’ donations to NGOs, and Akunis’s, which capped such contributions to political NGOs at NIS 20,000 - – but the initiatives were thwarted by an appeal from Begin, who declared them “dead.”