US envoy wrote to PM, urging him to drop bill targeting foreign funding for NGOs

US Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides sent a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week urging him not to move forward with legislation that would significantly limit Israeli civil society groups’ ability to accept donations from foreign governments, the Axios news site reports.

The government took the bill off Sunday’s agenda in the wake of reports of opposition from foreign governments, including from the US, France and Germany.

The Axios report, citing US and Israeli officials, says that among the opposing voices was a letter directly from Nides to Netanyahu.

The report says that in addition to the letter, Nides and other US diplomats privately worked for weeks to urge the Israeli government to back off from the bill.

The bill states that any nonprofit group that engages in public advocacy two years before or after receiving a donation from a foreign government will lose its status as a public institution and will no longer be eligible for tax exemptions. In addition, those nonprofits will be hit with a 65 percent income tax.

It is viewed as targeting left-wing groups that are considered adversaries by Netanyahu’s right-wing government.