Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-09-08-Speech-3-282"
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"en.20100908.15.3-282"2
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"Mr President, since I cosigned the oral question to the Commission on the new Israeli ‘NGO transparency bill’ – as it is referred to by the Israeli NGO which calls itself NGO Monitor – the bill has been considerably softened, as Franziska Brantner has just explained. My group and I welcome these changes. It is no longer required of all recipients of foreign funding for the purpose of political activities in Israel to register under the ‘political party’ register. It seems that these organisations are no longer at risk of losing their tax exemption status, and potential breaches of the law would be punished by a fine.
As I said, these changes are to be welcomed. The Israeli authorities and a number of Israeli NGOs may not have liked our reaction to the original bill, but, as we have seen, our actions have had effect.
Having said this, the aim of the present draft still raises concern. Firstly, it seems to be directed at intimidating the EU and its Member States. In the background note that we received from the NGO which I already mentioned (Israeli NGO Monitor), we read the following, and I quote: ‘The EU and the Member States channel tens of millions of euros annually to a narrow group of highly-politicised Israeli NGOs through non-transparent processes. The degree to which European States are using NGO funding to influence Israeli political and public debates has no parallel in relations among democracies. Therefore, greater transparency regarding foreign government funding is central to the Israeli democratic process and the public’s right to know.’
Needless to say, a number of those allegations are absolutely untrue but they are very revealing. They reveal how strong the distrust is between a number of Israeli opinion makers and the EU and we need to do something about it. They also reveal how embattled important segments of Israeli public opinion feel; that is also a matter of concern. Both elements make a peaceful solution in the Middle East even more difficult than it already is. My question to you Commissioner is: what do you intend to do about this to improve the situation?"@en1
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