Legislation recently approved by the Israeli Knesset will
advance the creation of a commission of inquiry into human-
and civil-rights groups operating in Israel.
The bill, introduced by the right-wing Zionist Yisrael Beiteinu party, was approved by a 41-15 margin.
The stated
purpose of the inquiry is to investigate sources of funding. This information
is transparent and easily accessed on the Internet.
The real purpose
of the parliamentary commission is to harass, disrupt and delegitimize groups
working against Israeli apartheid. B’tselem, one of the organizations to be
targeted, has helped expose Israel’s denial of water to Palestinians in the
West Bank and the murder of civilians by the IDF, among numerous other
crimes.
Opponents are rightly calling the legislation “McCarthyite,”
as it is reminiscent of the House Un-American Activities Committee, which
teamed up with U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy during the 1950s to criminalize
dissent and communism in particular.
The measure further delegitimizes the state of Israel in the
eyes of the world.
