Knesset Presentation on NGO Exploitation of Bedouin Issue

Summary

In November 2013, Professor Gerald Steinberg participated in three separate sessions of the Knesset Internal Affairs Committee dealing with the proposed law to regulate Bedouin settlement in the Negev.

On November 20, Professor Steinberg made a presentation (see below) about NGO Monitor’s research, detailing the distortions and allegations made by NGOs (non-governmental organizations) that seek to exploit the Negev Bedouin issue in an effort to promote the broader delegimitization campaign against Israel.

Highly politicized NGOs, including Adalah, Bimkom, Negev Coexistence Forum for Civil Equality, and Rabbis for Human Rights, lobby the European Parliament and other international frameworks in an attempt to influence foreign government policies on this divisive issue.

Professor Steinberg noted that in 2012, approximately NIS 10 million in foreign government funding was provided to highly politicized NGOs, which accuse Israel of “apartheid,” “ethnic cleansing,” “racial discrimination,” and “human rights violations.”

Often these NGOs lobby the same governments from which they receive funding, while excluding Israeli officials and dissenting views.

Click here to read the NGO Monitor report, NGOs and the Negev Bedouin Issue in the Context of Political Warfare.

Click here to read the Hebrew version of NGO Monitor’s presentation at the Knesset.