Bill that could bar left-wing groups from schools passes first reading
‘Breaking the Silence law’ would empower education minister to ban NGOs ‘that work to damage the IDF’ from educational institutions
A bill empowering the education minister to ban organizations critical of the Israeli military from entering schools passed its first reading in the Knesset on Monday.
The legislation, voted in by a 35-23 margin, will now head to the Knesset Education Committee before it is brought to a second and third reading and signed into law.
The legislation was first proposed in 2016 amid intense public debate over the legitimacy of left-wing groups operating in Israel. It is primarily directed at the Breaking the Silence organization, but would give the education minister the power to ban any groups “that work to damage the IDF” from entering academic institutions.
The bill was proposed by Education Minister Naftali Bennett (Jewish Home) in December 2016 after three high school principals ignored his guidelines on prohibiting the organization from speaking to students.
During the Knesset vote, Jewish Home MK Shuli Mualem–Refaeli, the bill’s sponsor, accused Breaking the Silence of seeking to “undermine” Israel’s existence through its actions.
“The goal of Breaking the Silence and all organizations like it is not to correct but rather to undermine the existence of the State of Israel [and] harm IDF officers and soldiers,” she said. “The foolish attempt to attribute to IDF soldiers a lust to murder children — not in our schools.”
The bill was criticized by opposition lawmakers, namely from the left-wing Meretz party.
“Soldiers who gave the best years of their lives to the state want to tell the truth,” said MK Mossi Raz. “There is a limit to silencing voices.”
Breaking the Silence said in response to the Knesset vote that it is Bennett who is harming Israeli soldiers.
“Those who hurt IDF soldiers are politicians like Bennett, who send us to control the Palestinians and are silent when settlers routinely attack soldiers and Palestinians. Naftali, get off the hilltops and realize — the only way to stop us is to end the occupation,” it said on Twitter.
Founded in 2004 by a group of veteran Israeli army combatants, Breaking the Silence collects reports, usually anonymously, about alleged abuses by soldiers in the West Bank and Gaza. It has often locked horns with the Israeli political and military brass and its critics have denounced its reports as dishonest, inaccurate, and part of an advocacy campaign intended to harm Israel’s image overseas.
In recent years, a number of right-wing lawmakers have sought to advance legislation seemingly meant to curtail the group’s activities. For example, the Knesset approved the so-called “NGO Law” in June 2016, which obligates certain nonprofit groups — including Breaking the Silence — to declare all their foreign funding.
Raoul Wootliff contributed to this report.
