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[Excerpt:]

"Anne Herzberg, the legal adviser to NGO Monitor, a right-wing organization that highlights foreign involvement in left-wing NGOs, praised Elkin’s bill on Monday, saying in an e-mail to the Post that it would bring new transparency to the functioning of these organizations. "The nature and scale of European influence in Israel is unique – in no other case do democratic countries use taxpayer money to support opposition groups in other democracies. The proposed legislation provides much needed transparency on these activities and allows for European parliamentary oversight and evaluation regarding the purposes to which these public funds have been put." Herzberg denied allegations that the legislation was anti-democratic or part of a plot to subvert freedom of speech, saying "such arguments are a red herring. These organizations will still be able to express their views and will still have and do have access to considerable private funding to promote their ideology." Groups opposed to the bill were "simply afraid that as a result of this heightened transparency, they may lose access to the tens of millions of euros in European taxpayer funds that has allowed them to disproportionately manipulate the marketplace of ideas," Herzberg said."