According to a news story in the Jerusalem Post, the Israeli NGO Breaking the Silence was responsible for leaking the latest internal EU document condemning Israeli policy. This highly irregular EU practice stands in stark contrast to good governance standards.
Naftali Balanson notes that instead of engaging critics, many members of the powerful NGO network demonize and censor them. The commitment of these same human rights NGOs to the principles of democracy and transparency in government disappears.
Prof. Gerald Steinberg argues that EU officials are reluctant to detail funding for Israeli and Palestinian NGOs because they fear public criticism of the EUs use of these NGOs to manipulate Israeli democracy.
Canadian human rights lawyer David Matas discusses the controversy at Rights & Democracy as an example of non-disclosure of NGO funding -- much like the EU's refusal to release information to NGO Monitor.
EU officials have attempted to justify the intense secrecy by using exaggerated claims of public security and commercial interest. The only reasonable conclusion is that the EU has something to hide.
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