These organizations “actively blacken Israel’s name around the world, accuse it of ethnic cleansing, apartheid, and war crimes; deprive the Jewish people of their right to self-determination, call to prosecute Israel in the International Criminal Court at The Hague, and support the right of return”, she said.
Hotovely told EU diplomats that Jerusalem’s red line lies at funding for groups that delegitimize the State of Israel, work toward the Palestinian right of return to pre-67 borders or slander IDF soldiers.
The European officials are urged to increase oversight of their funding projects to ensure their money goes toward human rights’ groups and not organizations that work toward Israel’s destruction. Hotovely has also instructed Israeli ambassadors in Europe to demand that ministries increase thier overview of funds given to such groups.
Otherwise, the minister said, Israel may mull legislation that will directly criminalize funding of anti-Israel groups.
Hotovely claimed that some of these organizations are associated with and actively support terror groups.
Hotovely has met with the Dutch foreign minister, the Spanish deputy foreign minister, and the ambassadors of Sweden, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Denmark, and Switzerland.
According to Hotovely, the diplomats were presented with detailed documents collected by the Foreign Ministry and the NGO Monitor organization that prove the “problematic” funding.
According to Deputy Minister Hotovely, these are some of the European investments in such organizations in recent years:
The Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Secretariat, managed by the Institute of Law at Birzeit University in the West Bank, which received $10.5 million from the governments of Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. The funds were to go to 24 political organizations over three years.
In 2014, the governments of Germany, Sweden, Norway, and the EU provided NIS 415,741 to the Coalition of Women for Peace, an organization that supports aspects of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement.
The Netherlands provided NIS 13 million in the last three years to numerous NGOs, including Who Profits, Al-Haq, the Coalition of Women for Peace, and Al-Mezan.
Denmark provided NIS 23 million in the past three years to several NGOs, including Breaking the Silence, BADIL, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, and other Palestinian organizations.
Switzerland provided NIS 5 million over the last three years to organizations like the Alternative Information Center, Zochrot, the Applied Research Institute, and Terrestrial Jerusalem.
Spain gave NIS 3.8 million in the last three years to groups including Breaking the Silence, the Coalition of Women for Peace, the Alternative Information Center, and NOVA, a Spanish BDS organization.
The United Kingdom provided NIS 12 million in 2008-2011 to Breaking the Silence, Yesh Din, Gisha, Bimkom, Terrestrial Jerusalem, and No Legal Frontiers.
In the conclusions they issued after a meeting in Brussels on Monday, where they discussed the Middle East peace process, the 28 EU Foreign Ministers called on the Israeli authorities ”to halt plans for forced transfer of population and demolition of Palestinian housing and infrastructure in the Susya and Abu Nwar communities.
The village of Khirbet Susiya, South of Hebron, is making headlines after Israel’s Supreme Court ruled that buildings in the village were constructed illegally. The Court recently cleared legal barriers to demolition of the buildings on the grounds that the structures were constructed illegally, entirely without permits or approved plans. Susya is located in Area C of the West Bank where Israel is responsible for planning and construction.
Among the political NGOs which are leading an international campaign against the planned demolition, several are subsidized by the EU and European governments, according to NGO Monitor. These NGOs are also those denounced by Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister as “actively working to deligitimize Israel”.
