Netanyahu to delay bill limiting funds for NGOs

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will delay a bill which would impose restrictions on international funding for Israeli NGO's, Haaretz newspaper said Sunday. The Israeli daily quoted sources on Saturday as saying that Netanyahu has decided to freeze the political process which would pass the bill. "As of right now there's no intention to hold a discussion about [the bill] in cabinet meetings," Haaretz quoted an unnamed Israeli official as saying. The source added that the funding cap will not come up for a vote soon and several appeals have been initiated to "stall the promotion" of the bill. Members of Israel's Knesset will therefore be unable to ratify the legislation. The officials suggested to Haaretz that foreign pressure against the bill could be behind the decision to delay its implementation. A ministerial panel passed the bill last week by a vote of 11 to 5. The legislation amends a law governing funding for non-governmental organizations by setting a ceiling of 20,000 shekels ($5,400) a year for the amount another government may contribute each year to any group. The measure is one of several condemned as bids to silence critics of Israeli policies toward Palestinians who seek a state on land Israel has occupied since 1967. The Association for Civil Rights in Israel called the measures a "severe affront to Israel’s democratic character and part of a larger effort on the part of specific (lawmakers) to curtail the work of human rights and social change organizations whose agenda and/or activities differ from their political views." B'Tselem, an Israeli human rights organization, said that it would only be silent when "human rights violations in the Occupied Territories cease," a statement from the group said last week.