Israeli MPs were on Tuesday to vote on a controversial law that would see parliament set up committees to investigate human rights groups accused of anti-Israel activity. The bill, sponsored by hardline Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman’s Yisrael Beitenu party, was expected fail after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would not support the move.
The law calls for the establishment of parliamentary inquiry committees to investigate foreign funding of leftwing non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Lieberman created a stir earlier this week after he denounced several of the groups in question as “terror organisations,” saying they were undermining Israel’s legitimacy and helping foreign efforts to charge its soldiers with war crimes. “We’re not talking here about leftist organisations and not about human rights groups, we’re talking about terror organisations,” Lieberman said on Sunday.
