NGO Transparency Law update: NGO reports to Israeli Registrar of Non-Profits in 2012
This report was originally published based on the information that appeared on the Israeli Registrar of Non-Profits website as of February 11, 2013. Since then, the Registrar’s website has been updated with additional information regarding 2012. We have updated our report accordingly, as of October 15, 2013.
All donors, names, grants amounts, and projects are taken directly from the official website of the Israeli Registrar of Non-Profits (Excluding Table A)
Introduction
Transparency regarding government funding for NGOs transcends partisan ideology, and is essential for ensuring the values of democracy and accountability.
NGOs receive funding via two primary channels: direct funding from bodies controlled by foreign governments; and indirect funding, provided by governments to third-parties (foundations, and humanitarian, development, and religious NGOs), which channel the funds to local NGOs.
The “Law on Disclosure Requirements For [Groups] Supported by a Foreign Governmental Body” (NGO Transparency Law – February 2011) provides an appropriate framework to inform the Israeli public, in a timely fashion, about foreign government involvement in Israeli political issues. As implemented by the Israeli Ministry of Justice, the law is an international model for transparency.
According to the law, a “recipient of support that received a donation from a Foreign Governmental Body will submit to the Registrar, within a week of the end of the quarter in which the donation was received, a report in an online form which the Minister of Justice will formulate.” However, since the end of 2012, the list of grants received in 2012 continues to be updated (2012 grants from 15 NGOs have been added since February 2013). This late reporting indicates that there is a need for better compliance with the law by NGOs and stronger enforcement by the Ministry of Justice.
Many other political advocacy NGOs that regularly receive funding from foreign governments did not submit quarterly reports for 2012. It is unknown whether they did not receive foreign government funding during the reporting period, whether they have failed to act in accordance with the law, or whether they did not report due technical issues in the reporting system.
Table A
Israeli NGOs who didn’t report in accordance with the law in 2012
| NGO | Donors | Grant | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Breaking the Silence | Norway; European Union | $61,591 | Correspondence with Norwegian Embassy in Israel |
| €166,538 | EU Delegation Website | ||
| The Israeli Committee against House Demolitions (ICAHD) | Ireland (Indirect) | Unknown | Donor Website |
| Machsom Watch | European Union; Norway | €139,554 | EU Delegation Website |
| $52,000 | Correspondence with Norwegian Delegation to Ramallah | ||
| Coalition of Women for Peace | European Union | €247,668 | EU Delegation Website |
| Sabeel | Sweden (Indirect); Netherlands (Indirect) | €44,277 €50,000 | NGO Website |
| Alternative Information Center | Sweden (Indirect); Unknown foreign donors | Unknown | Donor Website |
| Zochrot | Netherlands (Indirect); Germany (Indirect); France (Indirect); Belgium (Indirect); Switzerland (Indirect) | Unknown | NGO Website |
| Terrestrial Jerusalem | Norway | $103,000 | Correspondence with Norwegian Delegation to Ramallah |
Data
The Israeli Registrar of Non-Profits (Rasham Amutot) lists foreign government funding submissions from 47 NGOs in the total amount of 60,083,835 NIS annually for 2012 (see appendix I).
The listed NGOs can be categorized according to the nature of their activities:
- NGOs involved in polarizing activity and political advocacy in the context of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
- NGOs dealing with different dimensions of the Arab-Israeli conflict, with the majority of activity aimed at cooperation and co-existence.
- Other Non-Profits, dealing with various issues in Israeli society.
As of October 15, 2013, 16 political advocacy NGOs reported grants from foreign government bodies in 2012, totaling 35,757,447 NIS for the year (60% of total amount):
- These groups are B’Tselem, Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHR-I), Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI), Yesh Din, Bimkom, Ir Amim, Keshev, Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), Hamoked, Social TV, Geneva Initiative (H.L Education), Rabbis for Human Rights (RHR), and Gisha.
- Donations to Adalah and Parents Circle were not listed on the Registrar of Non-Profits website until after NGO Monitor’s first report was published (February 3, 2013).
- The added transparency in 2012 reveals major funding by Norway (7,145,867 NIS) and via the European Union (6,169,496 NIS), which comprise 20% and 17.3% of reported grants respectively. (see appendix II)
- Some of the donors (conduits for indirect government support), such as Christian Aid, Diakonia, Oxfam Novib and the Norwegian Refugee Council, are also involved in highly biased delegitimization campaigns against Israel.
- A number of reported donors do not appear to be “Foreign Governmental Bodies”. They are categorized in this report as “others”.
Reported foreign funding to political advocacy NGOs, by donor
Reported foreign funding for the year 2012 by NGO
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