Should radical anti-Israel groups freely operate in Tel Aviv? – opinion

Foreign intervention in the Jewish state continues, with enemies openly operating from within.

By Ron Torossian, Special to World Israel News

Against all the noise in Israel of protestors for and against judicial reform, life goes on in the Jewish State. And with all the talk of democracy, foreign intervention in the Jewish state continues, with enemies openly operating from Tel Aviv.

According to a recent ‘Help Wanted’ ad, Gisha, a Tel Aviv-based non-profit, was seeking a Director of International Relations to oversee the organization’s international advocacy and resource development work.

Gisha promotes the right to freedom of movement, particularly for Palestinian residents of the Gaza Strip, using legal and public advocacy. The organization seeks a person with a “deep commitment to human rights and identification with Gisha’s work” who can work legally in Israel.

Gisha’s donors include the Government of Ireland (via Irish Aid), Finland (Embassy of Finland in Tel Aviv), Switzerland, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Broederlijk Delen (Belgium), Trocaire (Ireland), Oxfam Novib (Netherlands), and others.  NGO Monitor reports that donations from foreign countries comprised 73.1% of total donations in 2017-2019, and the radical New Israel Fund, which openly supports a boycott of Israel, sent $434,907 to Gisha during 2015-2021.

Situated in the heart of Tel Aviv, Gisha is a radical anti-Israel organization. In April 2023, Gisha signed a letter to the United Nations Secretary-General urging the UN to reject the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism. According to the letter, the IHRA definition “opens the door to labeling as antisemitic… findings of major Israeli, Palestinian and global human rights organizations that Israeli authorities are committing the crime against humanity of apartheid against Palestinians.”

In August 2022, Gisha was a signatory on a statement condemning the decision by the Israeli Ministry to designate six Palestinian NGOs as terrorist organizations.  According to the statement, “We stand in solidarity with our fellow human rights defenders in Palestinian society. We repudiate these baseless declarations and call on the international community to pressure Israel to revoke its decision.”

In February 2021, Gisha welcomed the announcement of the International Criminal Court (ICC) that it has the jurisdiction to open an investigation into alleged war crimes committed by Israel in the “State of Palestine.”

According to Gisha, “it is unsurprising that the ICC prosecutor found sufficient basis for conducting an investigation into the situation in the region. Grave violations of basic rights and of international law, which take place daily as a matter of routine, must be stopped immediately, and justice ensured for victims.”

In July 2019, Gisha signed on a letter to the German parliament claiming that BDS is not antisemitic, saying that it was “a disservice to the true fight against antisemitism to equate it with BDS.”

In December 2022, Gisha was a signatory on a statement claiming that the “occupation and apartheid in the occupied Palestinian territories have made Jewish supremacy the de facto law of the land and the new government seeks to adopt this into their official policy.”

Israel remains a fervent democracy dedicated to protecting the Jewish people. We’d all be better off with less foreign intervention within the State of Israel.

Ronn Torossian is an entrepreneur and author.