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[Excerpt:]

“Professor Gerald Steinberg, president of Jerusalem-based organization NGO Monitor, which analyzes NGO activity, including funding, told the The Jerusalem Post on Sunday that the bill highlighted an important domestic political issue – that of Israelis’ concerns over NGO funding. “MKs, especially on the Right, see this as a significant issue for the Israeli public,” said Steinberg, who added that the problem lies with “secretive” European government funding to NGOs in Israel. “We’re not just talking about groups like Peace Now, but also other NGOs that say Israel is an apartheid state or that Israelis are war criminals,” said Steinberg. “If European governments provided transparency over their funding instead of conducting it in a secretive way, it would be far less of an intense issue for Israelis.” However, Steinberg added that he expected there to be “significant legislative changes” to the bill before it passed into law. “The concept was approved, but not the details.””