Israel must expose foreign ties of local NGOs, says ex-agent

A former Shin Bet official says European governments exploit Israel’s lax nonprofit laws, calls for greater oversight into organizations benefitting from foreign funding.

By World Israel News Staff

A former senior Shin Bet official is warning that Israel must strengthen its laws requiring transparency for non-profit organizations, arguing that many groups with far-left agendas — funded by European and other foreign governments — are operating freely while falsely presenting themselves as independent Israeli organizations.

Moshe “Puzi” Pozailov, an analyst at the Misgav Institute for National Security and a former senior officer in Israel’s internal security service, told the Hebrew-language daily Ma’ariv that Israel has a blind spot when it comes to organizations effectively advancing foreign interests.

“Israel is being attacked from within by organizations funded from abroad, operating without legal restrictions or meaningful security oversight. The result is that foreign governments can shape both Israeli and international discourse without paying any price, while [the Israeli public] continues debating the so-called ‘freedom of speech’ of these associations,” Pozailov warned.

“Unlike in the United States, where any organization funded by a foreign government is defined as a foreign agent and placed under close supervision, here the field is wide open. The European Union has learned to take advantage of this,” Pozailov told the outlet.

He explained that instead of confronting Israel directly, foreign governments funnel money to local nonprofits that “file petitions [to the Supreme Court, against Israeli government decisions], publish so-called ‘apartheid’ reports,” and spearhead international campaigns — all while being misrepresented as domestic Israeli organizations.

Pozailov also criticized the Shin Bet for devoting extensive resources to monitoring far-right extremism while lacking any dedicated unit for addressing radical left-wing or anarchist groups.

The lack of Shin Bet focus on the left side of the political spectrum, coupled with lax Israeli policies about nonprofits revealing their foreign funding, has created a situation in which there is no accountability for foreign-funded activism in Israel, Pozailov told Ma’ariv.

He urged the government to pass legislation requiring nonprofits benefiting from foreign funding to disclose that fact transparently.

Pozailov also demanded that the Shin Bet adopt a more “balanced” approach to combating extremism across the political spectrum by targeting both right-wing and left-wing threats.