In reversal, Yesh Atid to back controversial NGO finance bill
Party head Yair Lapid says he has no issue with measure capping donations to groups working for election campaigns
The centrist Yesh Atid party will support a controversial bill that would cap donations to non-governmental organizations advancing political initiatives during elections, its leader said in remarks published Sunday.
Yesh Atid head Yair Lapid said his opposition party, in an about-face, was now in support of the so-called V15 bill, named for an effort aided by a US-funded group that tried to unseat Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the previous elections.
“We have no problem supporting coalition bills if they are just,” Lapid said, according to the Israel Hayom newspaper.
The comments were confirmed on Sunday to The Times of Israel by his spokesperson.
Lapid’s change of heart over the legislation, which seeks to impose an NIS 11,000 ($2,900) limit per person and require groups to spell out their activities and financing to the state ombudsman, comes after its architect, Likud MK Yoav Kisch, appeared amenable to softening the contested bill.
In a joint meeting of the Knesset’s House Committee and Constitution, Law and Justice Committee last week, lawmakers agreed to revise the bill, particularly in the shadow of the divisive US elections — with its deep-pocketed Super PACs, and the role of donors in swaying an election.
“We believe that we shouldn’t be importing this mix of money and politics into Israel,” said Lapid.
Opposition MKs and several United Torah Judaism MKs have voiced concern the legislation would impinge on freedom of assembly and freedom of speech.
The committee session on the bill came two weeks after the state comptroller cleared the V15 grassroots organization of inappropriate political meddling during the 2015 election, which it was accused of by the Likud party.
State Comptroller Yosef Shapira wrote that there was no indication that the group, for whom the bill was named (since disbanded and rebranded as “Darkenu,”) had any connection to any specific political party.
But in July, a US Senate bipartisan inquiry, led by senators Bob Portman (R-Ohio) and Claire McCaskill (D-Missouri), found that some $350,000 (NIS 1.3 million) in US government funds given to the OneVoice group were indirectly used to help organize voter outreach efforts of V15.
That probe found no illegal activity in funding the OneVoice group, though its report chided the State Department for having failed to prevent state funds being used, albeit legally and indirectly, to influence an allied country’s internal political process.
Right-wing lawmakers had pointed to the US inquiry to bolster support for the controversial legislation.
The committees will reconvene to discuss a revised V15 bill on November 11.
The Times of Israel Community.