TEL AVIV – The European Union has agreed to immediately stop funding a coalition of left-wing groups that “defame and delegitimize” Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday.
“Pursuant to the diplomatic efforts of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the European Union has announced that it will immediately stop funding and contact with the Freedom Protection Council, an NGO operating in Israel, which undermines the State of Israel’s right to exist and seeks to defame it around the world,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.
Netanyahu stated, “This is only the beginning. We will continue to take determined action against organizations that seek to delegitimize the State of Israel and strive to defame the state and the IDF around the world.”
The Freedom Protection Council, established in 2017 by Arab-Israeli media NGO I’lam, is comprised of dozens of left-wing Israeli NGOs including B’Tselem and Adalah, both of which are financed by the George Soros-funded New Israel Fund (NIF), a radical, foreign-funded anti-Israel NGO. The Council, which counts other NIF-funded groups among its ranks, has accused Israel of “war crimes” and “apartheid.”
I’lam’s stated mission promotes “the right to freedom of expression and the strength of the media to advance a more democratic, open and just society,” according to the NGO Monitor.
Between January 2017 and December 2019, the EU pledged close to half a million dollars in funds.
“The overall objective of this action is to ensure active engagement of Civil Society Organizations by countering systemic barriers that limit their participation in policymaking processes,” the EU said on its website.
The news comes as part of a crackdown by Netanyahu on foreign funding for anti-Israel NGOs.
Netanyahu was said to have given Norwegian Foreign Minister Ine Eriksen Søreide a dressing down on Sunday over her country’s financial support of anti-Israel groups.
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