Background

• On January 11, 2016, Israel’s leading nightly news program on Channel 2 aired footage of Ezra Nawi, a radical activist from the NGO “Ta’ayush,” visiting the offices of Israeli NGO Breaking the Silence (BtS). There, a BtS employee provided Nawi with NIS 1,400 in cash. It is unclear what services were rendered to warrant such a payment, but Channel 2 showed footage of Nawi writing checks for Palestinians, ostensibly for taking part in protests that he, himself, planned.
• The segment also showed Nawi receiving a check for 1359.36 NIS from Rabbis for Human Rights (RHR). RHR stated in response that he provided them with transportation services and that “Ezra Nawi was a part-time worker with us over the past few months. We had no knowledge of what was published in the Uvda investigation. The issues that were raised stand in complete opposition to our organization’s spirit. Nawi’s work with us has been suspended since the report was broadcast, and we will hold a hearing with him.”
• Nawi was also featured in a January 8, 2015 expose on Israeli investigative news program (“Uvda”, Channel 2). Nawi and B’Tselem employee Nasser Nawaja discussed informing the Palestinian Authority security services about a Palestinian man who allegedly intended to sell land to Jews in the West Bank. The sale of Palestinian land to Israelis is punishable by death under Palestinian Authority law, and according to Nawi, suspects are tortured and then killed.
• BtS did not substantively respond to Channel 2’s requests for comment, and instead stated, “We don’t work with the Stasi and don’t comment on the Stasi. Those who want a country like those in the Soviet bloc are welcome to it.”
• In 2015, BtS and Ta’ayush organized a joint tour of the Southern Hebron Hills region.
• 2013-15 donors include: Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Secretariat (joint funding from Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark and the Netherlands), Trocaire (Ireland), Dan Church Aid (Denmark), Broederlijk Delen (Belgium), Christian Aid (UK), Switzerland, France, CCFD (France), Medico International (Germany), Misereor (Germany), AECID (Spain), EU, ICCO (Netherlands), Norway, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Open Society Institute, and New Israel Fund. (See table below for detailed funding information).
• Ta’ayush does not publish financial information, reflecting a lack of transparency and accountability.

Foreign Donations to Breaking the SIlence (amounts in NIS; accessed January 12,2016)

*Until 2014, NDC managed the pooled finances of Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands through its Human Rights/Good Governance program. In 2014, NDC was replaced by NIRAS and Birzeit University, which are managing the government funding under the Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Secretariat.