• Affiliated with the “Freie Demokratische Partei” (Free Democratic Party)
  • Operates offices in Jerusalem
  • Funding: 2012 budget of €51.3 million
  • According to correspondence with NGO Monitor, 100% of FNS funds come from the “state budget.”
  • FNS Israel office lists its partners, but does not provide funding details.
  • NGO Monitor requests for funding details were rejected, reflecting a lack of transparency.
  • Claims to work towards the “promotion of democracy and liberal principles,” dialogue and the peace process.
  • In contrast to these stated moral objectives, funding is provided to highly politicized anti-Israel NGOs including the Ma’an News Agency and the Ramallah Center for Human Rights Studies (RCHRS).
  • These NGOs are prominent in campaigns to demonize the state of Israel and Jewish people.
  • Examples:
    • On January 31, 2013 Ma’an published an article in Arabic (which was later removed), “On the ostensible ‘Holocaust’ memorial day,” which referred to the Holocaust as a “myth.” In the article, Israel is referred to as a “thieve entity” and “the Jews” are claimed to “have succeeded in achieving many goals by using ‘Holocaust’” and taking “advantage of them [the lies] to win sympathy.”
    • Following the March 2002 suicide bombing attacks and “Operation Defensive Shield,” RCHRS issued a statement promoting the false claim that Israel committed “massacres” in Jenin and Nablus.