Criticism and analysis of NGOs is not anti-democratic - indeed, it is the
essence of the democratic process

THE NGO CAMPAIGN AGAINST ISRAEL DEMOCRACY Gerald M. Steinberg

By any objective standard, Israeli democracy is as robust and pluralistic as
any in the world. There are no restrictions on any form of protest or
advocacy, including very fierce and unpopular criticism of the government
and military. No other democracy can claim to have greater freedom of
expression, despite more than six decades of war and terrorism; threats of
annihilation; and in parallel, the challenges of developing a cohesive
society based on numerous divergent communities scattered for generations as
Diasporas, many of which do not have traditions of pluralism and democracy.

Of course, our society is not perfect -- like other nations, we have flaws,
and it is our responsibility to correct them. But aggressive campaigns
greatly exaggerate these imperfections, as part of the ongoing effort to
delegitimize Israel, led by the soft-power of and well-financed "civil
society" groups, which themselves are not subject to any democratic
accountability. These accusations should not be accepted at face value, and
must be tested against credible evidence that is independently verifiable.

Israel's democratic credentials include a wide-open electoral process: a
free and highly critical press; a vibrant NGO sector with tens of thousands
of political and social groups across the political spectrum, engaging in
intense debate; as well as the systematic protection of the rights of
minorities to freedom of expression and protest.

For example, each year, Israeli police forces and government institutions
facilitate Gay Pride parades in Jerusalem Tel Aviv, Haifa, and Eilat;
marches on Human Rights Day; protests by the Islamic movement; and to
observances of the murder of Yitzhak Rabin. In the summer of 2011, mass
demonstrations on socio-economic issues were a testament to Israel's dynamic
civil society and a culture of advocacy and peaceable protest. Israeli
police facilitated these activities, blocking off roads and granting
permits. The government responded to protestors' demands positively, in the
form of a task force to address their claims.

In Egypt, Tunisia, Syria and elsewhere, where thousands were murdered at the
hands of their own governments, pro-democracy activists were quoted as
taking inspiration from the democratic nature of Israel and its commitment
to freedom of expression.

Similarly, while Arab representatives in the Knesset frequently deny the
legitimacy and advocate the destruction of Israel, for which they are
strongly criticized in democratic political debate, their right to express
these views has not been infringed. MK Haneen Zoabi was aboard the Mavi
Marmara, a boat operated by the Turkish group IHH (a member of the Union of
Good, a U.S.-banned terror organization), from which Israeli soldiers were
brutally attacked. In some other democracies, participation in an armed
attack against one's own military forces would be considered treason, but no
criminal charges were made against Zoabi. Instead, she received a minor
rebuke, and continues to freely travel around the world denouncing the State
of Israel, ironically in whose parliament she sits.

However, all of this has been erased by the promoters of an intense and
well-financed campaign falsely accusing Israel of "anti-democratic
behavior," arising from growing criticism and debate over the massive and
unprecedented level of non-transparent European government funding for
highly political non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

The powerful NGOs that receive this illicit largesse, removed from any
democratic checks and balances, have launched a concerted effort to silence
this debate. But partisan allegations from NGOs should not be taken at face
value; in a democracy, groups claiming to speak in the name of human rights
have no immunity from criticism and public debate.

Leaders of powerful NGOs should face the same type of scrutiny as other
political actors, including elected officials. The importance of this
process was illustrated in a "wikileaks" cable in which a New Israel Fund
(NIF) official, Hedna Radanovitz, told a U.S. diplomat that"the
disappearance of a Jewish state would not be [a] tragedy," revealing a
contrast between NIF's public statements in support of Zionism.

Thus, criticism and analysis of NGOs is not anti-democratic - indeed, it is
the essence of the democratic process. And the debate over the secret NGO
funding processes, and of their false claims of "war crimes", as repeated in
the discredited Goldstone report, does not prevent Israeli NGOs such as
Breaking the Silence, Yesh Din, Association for Civil Rights in Israel
(ACRI), Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI), and many others
from publicizing their allegations.

Statements by foreign leaders, such as Hillary Clinton, and media reports on
these issues, both in Israel and outside, have repeated the NGO slogans and
distortions. Allegations in the editorial pages of the New York Times also
fail to address basic issues related to the unique context of NGO political
power in Israel, the secret foreign government funding processes, and the
fact that the proposed Knesset legislation has been rejected by the robust
Israeli democratic process.

More broadly, those who blindly repeat and echo false claims of an
"anti-democratic" wave in Israel are again applying double standards and
using false claims in order to isolate and condemn the Jewish nation state,
as part of the ongoing ideological and cynical campaign of delegitimization.
The exploitation of the language of democracy as a weapon to promote
campaigns by narrow opposition groups empowered through secret funding
processes, and not subject to any checks and balances, is the real threat to
Israeli democracy.

Gerald Steinberg is professor of political science at Bar Ilan University
and president of NGO Monitor. This column is a summary of NGO Monitor's
presentation to the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of
the right to freedom of opinion and expression.