- In Israel at least two explicitly anti-NGO bills are pending adoption by the Parliament (Knesset), within a context of increasing pressure and limitations already piling on human rights organisations in the country.
- These laws will severely reduce the ability of non governmental organisations (NGOs) to receive international funding, and the criminalization of accountability activities, including harsh prison sentences for supporting or even engaging with the International Criminal Court (ICC).
- The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) stands in solidarity with its member organisations Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI), Adalah and B’Tselem, whose essential work for the protection of human rights is being directly targeted by these bills.
- These draft laws will ultimately affect victims of human rights violations by restricting the work of the groups dedicated to protecting their rights.
Paris, Jerusalem, Tel-Aviv, 13 March 2025. The next few months could prove critical in defining the future of civil society and human rights work in Israel. Two bills have been recently adopted in a preliminary vote by the Knesset, and if fully accepted, could prove devastating for human rights organisations.
The first proposed bill would impose an 80% tax on donations from foreign governmental entities to NGOs in Israel, effectively preventing donations from these sources. Additionally, the bill would prohibit organisations primarily funded by so-called "foreign state entities" from petitioning Israeli courts unless they also receive funding from the Israeli government. This would severely limit the ability of independent Israeli human rights organisations—those that rely on international donors—to advocate for human rights through the judicial system.
The second bill, in addition to prohibiting all formal cooperation between Israeli authorities and the ICC, would criminalise citizens who assist the court in any way, an offense defined extremely broadly and punishable by up to five years imprisonment and in certain instances—a life sentence. This bill also proposes that making information available for potential use by the ICC be considered a criminal offense, effectively targeting journalists and research institutes.
"Together, these laws present an existential threat to Israeli civil society, silencing dissenting voices and further dismantling vital human rights work. They signal the Israeli government’s deliberate efforts to evade accountability for continuous human rights violations, allowing the state to persist in its actions without fear of national or international scrutiny or interference. By weakening the power of checks and balances, these laws effectively shield those responsible for violations from legal consequences, perpetuating a cycle of impunity that undermines both the rule of law and the rights of affected populations", said Tal Steiner, PCATIs Execute Director.
"Simply put, the ’ICC law’ will criminalize our work by making human rights defense a punishable offense, while the “NGO taxation law” is designed to drain our financial resources. These measures are currently targeting human rights organisations, but they are part of a broader pattern of Israeli government initiatives to harm the people living here, abandon them and wipe them out—this time, by silencing those who wish to protect them", said B’Tselem’s Executive Director Yuli Novak.
"The NGO Taxation Bill and the ICC Bill constitute a deliberate and aggressive assault on human rights organisations and human rights defenders. These measures aim to shut down these groups in Israel and to criminalise any efforts by locals and internationals to seek accountability for well-documented war crimes and crimes against humanity committed against Palestinians. These bills join a host of new laws and decisions, including entry restrictions on human rights defenders who support the prosecution of Israeli soldiers and measures to allow the revocation of registration of international humanitarian organisations that assist Palestinians based on allegations of delegitimising the state of Israel. This orchestrated campaign not only seeks to destroy civil society but also to further entrench impunity for perpetrators", said a representative from Adalah.
"These laws include criminalization and imprisonment of individuals engaging with the international criminal court. These are unbelievably harsh measures, akin to what we see happening to our member organisations in Russia, Belarus or Nicaragua. Israel has, for decades, imposed all types of restrictions on Palestinian human rights organisations, and has also engaged in smear campaigns and criminalization of their work. International organisations have also been targeted and in many cases, their operations halted and the travel of their employees, to and from Israel, seriously restricted", said Alice Mogwe, President of FIDH.
