The German government provides support to Israeli political advocacy NGOs primarily through the major political stiftungs (foundations). These German political foundations receive money from the federal budget based on the number of seats held in the Bundestag by the parties with which they are associated (see below for details). Israeli NGOs supported through this framework include Adalah, Bimkom, Coalition of Women for Peace, Gisha, Hamoked, Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHR-I), and Yesh Din.

Government funding is also allocated to organizations that partner with NGOs. For example, the German Federal Foreign Office and the German Representative Office in Ramallah funded Medico International in 2009. Medico International, in turn, funds radical Israeli and Palestinian advocacy NGOs such as Breaking the Silence (BtS), Zochrot, Physicians for Human Rights – Israel (PHR-I), and Al-Mezan. 

The Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen (IFA), funded by the German Foreign Office, the State of Baden-Württemberg, and the City of Stuttgart, and the Evangelischer Entwicklungsdiens (EED) (Church Development Service) are the final main channels of funding. EED’s 2008 financial report (most recent as of December 2011) lists €106.4 million of the total budget of €157.4 million (67%) as “government funds.”

The Political Foundations: Friedich Ebert Stiftung, Heinrich Böll Stiftung, and Rosa Luxembourg Stiftung

As part of the German political system, each political group is associated with a foundation. The Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) is associated with Friedrich Ebert Foundation; the German Green Party (Die Grünen) with Heinrich Böll Foundation; and The Left party with The Rosa Luxemburg Foundation. Government funding is proportional to electoral results. In 2010, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung had a budget of approximately €137 million, primarily through grants from the federal budget; Heinrich Böll Stiftung received €48.9 million from the government; Rosa Luxembourg Stiftung received €30.3 million.

In November 2011, the foundations sent and published a letter to Knesset members stating their opposition to the proposed Israeli legislation on NGOs (“German political foundations write joint letter to Members of Knesset on NGO funding bills,” November 20, 2011). The Heinrich Böll Foundation also organized a “lunch debate” in the European Parliament on November 29, 2011, in which three Israeli NGO officials presented a one-sided position on the internal Israeli debate on foreign governmental funding.

German funding – partial list