Bills proposing probes into leftist NGOs likely to fall

Knesset set to vote on legislation calling for formation of parliamentary commissions of inquiry into NGOs; PM, multiple Likud ministers oppose.

By GIL STERN STERN HOFFMAN
Faina Kirschenbaum 311 (photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem)
Faina Kirschenbaum 311
(photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem)
Two controversial bills that would form parliamentary commissions of inquiry to investigate leftist non-governmental organizations are not expected to receive enough support to pass in votes in the Knesset today.
The first, submitted by Israel Beiteinu MK Faina Kirschenbaum, would probe the damage done by the NGOs to the IDF. The second, sponsored by Likud MK Danny Danon, would investigate the contributions the NGOs received from foreign countries.
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Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu opposes both bills as do multiple Likud ministers and Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin. Most of the Likud faction however will support the legislation.
Israel Beiteinu has asked for a role-call vote to embarrass right-wing MKs who oppose the bills. Party officials said if Kirschenbaum’s bill is defeated, she will immediately submit it again in hopes it will pass at a later date.
A coalition of ten left-wing organizations sent a letter to MKs on Tuesday calling the proposed parliamentary committee a “witch hunt” and warning them that if the bill passes, “it would harm what is left of Israeli democracy.”