NGO bill

Israeli left-wing activists march to protest the recent incitement against "Breaking the Silence" and other left wing NGOs, in central Tel Aviv, December 19, 2015. (photo: Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

‘You are all traitors’: The political persecution of Breaking the Silence

That the minister of justice can singlehandedly launch an investigation against the anti-occupation group is a symptom of the decline of the rule of law and creeping authoritarianism within the Green Line. It is not often that the justice minister of a country personally demands the investigation of a political adversary to prove they did…

By Joshua Leifer November 19, 2017

Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked seen at the Knesset during a plenum session in the assembly hall of the Israeli parliament on July 11, 2016. (photo: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Everything you need to know about Israel’s ‘NGO law’

Despite international criticism, the Knesset passes legislation to single out left-wing NGOs in Israel. Here is everything you need to know about it. Israel’s parliament passed the so-called “NGO Law” Monday night, a piece of legislation meant to stigmatize left-wing and human rights organizations in Israel as agents of foreign powers. The law singles out…

By +972 Magazine July 12, 2016

A protest in solidarity with human rights and anti-occupation organizations that have come under attack, Tel Aviv, December 19, 2015. (Oren Ziv/Activestills) ‘The political space in which the Left is allowed to exist is narrowing rapidly.’

How Israel is turning anti-occupation activists into dissidents

Israel is seeing a worrying resurgence of attempts to curtail and suppress dissent, particularly among anti-occupation and human rights activists. That process does not take place in a vacuum. [Updated July 12, 2016] Israel’s parliament passed the so-called “NGO Law” Monday night, a piece of legislation meant to stigmatize left-wing and human rights organizations in…

By Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man July 4, 2016

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Annual Memorial Ceremony for Yitzhak Rabin, Jerusalem, October 26, 2015. (Haim Zach/GPO)

Don’t be fooled: Bibi and Im Tirzu are one and the same

The latest campaign of incitement in Israel is so extreme even the Right has condemned it. The irony? Its message is entirely in line with that of the government. A single day after right-wing Culture Minister Miri Regev proposed cutting funding to artists and cultural institutions that are “not loyal” to the State of Israel,…

By Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man January 28, 2016

A Palestinian B'Tselem volunteer documenting a protest in the south Hebron Hills, June 14, 2008. (Oren Ziv/Activestills)

Israeli gov’t votes to support bill targeting left-wing NGOs

Proposed law would force human rights NGOs to sport special labels and badges indicating that they receive foreign funding. The bill still needs to go through committee, pass a full Knesset vote. The Israeli government on Sunday voted to support a law targeting human rights and left-wing organizations, which European countries and human rights activists…

By Edo Konrad December 27, 2015

Police investigators stand around the body of a Palestinian man who ran over a group of Israeli pedestrians in Jerusalem, November 5, 2014. Police shot and killed the man shortly after the attack. (Photo by Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

A death penalty for terrorists would be terrible for Israel

Not only would the death penalty have no deterrent effect on bona fide terrorists. It’s just plain wrong. Update: On Sunday afternoon, Haaretz reports that the Prime Minister postponed the ministerial debate on the death penalty bill for three months – most likely a delaying tactic. He also instructed the formation of a government committee…

By Dahlia Scheindlin July 12, 2015

Omissions, half-truths, lies: Ambassador Oren in Foreign Policy

In a piece recently published, Israel’s Ambassador to Washington Michael Oren rejected claims regarding anti-democratic trends in his country, and compared the legal status of Palestinians in the West Bank to that of American citizens in Washington DC and the U.S. territories. A response. When Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu appointed Professor Michael Oren – a historian…

By Noam Sheizaf April 10, 2012