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Misunderstanding Israel's Pro-Democracy Efforts

(New York Post) Anat Berko - Israel's proposed law requiring transparency from political organizations in our country funded by foreign governments is an effort to actually preserve and strengthen Israeli democracy from the forces that seek to weaken it. About $66 million flows into these groups from European governments. The EU itself, Norway and Germany are the largest such donors. Let's set the record straight: The proposed law doesn't prohibit any activity whatsoever. Even entities funded entirely by foreign governments will still be free to do and say whatever they want in Israel. But groups that claim to be nongovernmental but are actually instruments of foreign governments will be acknowledged as such. The bill does one thing only: When more than half of an entity's funding comes from foreign governments, it must disclose that fact and the amount of funding from those governments. That's it. It's similar to several statutes in the U.S., such as the Foreign Agents Registration Act enacted in 1938. Israel's proposed law is, in fact, milder than existing U.S. law in important ways: In the U.S., these are criminal statutes - punishable by up to five years in jail. Israel's law has no criminal component. Dr. Anat Berko is a member of the Israeli Knesset and a Lt. Col. (res.) in the Israel Defense Forces.
2016-01-25 00:00:00
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