The Belgian government provides financial support for Israeli NGOs via the Federal Public Service (FPS). In correspondence with NGO Monitor (July 27, 2011), officials from the Belgium Embassy in Tel Aviv, “Projects are presented to us by the implementing NGO’s, directly at our FPS, or indirectly via our Embassy.”

In 2010, political advocacy NGOs that claim a human rights mandate, such as Yesh Din, Public Committee against Torture in Israel (PCATI), and Combatants for Peace (CfP), received funding via the embassy.

The Alternative Information Center (AIC) claims that its partners in 2011 included “the Belgian Government through the help of Solidarite Socialiste.”

The Belgian embassy website does not detail funding for NGO projects. In March 2011, Belgium Foreign Minister Steven Vanackere expressed his support for Israeli legislation that increases transparency in foreign government funding for NGOs: “Freedom for social groups, independency and transparency with regards to the financial basis of NGO’s, were central for Belgium and the EU-partners. Each of these basic principals was an element of our judgment. In this regard, Belgium can only applaud that the recently amended NGO-legislation enforces stricter transparency requirement” (emphasis added).

Upon request, the embassy provided NGO Monitor with the following information: