The Israel Parliament [official website] on Monday approved [press release] the first reading of a non-governmental organizations (NGO) transparency bill that would require any NGO that receives foreign political funding must publish the contributions. The bill, which passed in a close vote of 50 – 43, would also require NGOs to report a list of countries that support them in any forum. Many critics have denounced the bill claiming that it unfairly targets leftists that support Palestinian rights. While introducing the bill, Israel’s Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked said, “[i]ntegrity, transparency and good governance are matters that are not promoted by only one party in this room.” The NGO transparency bill now moves to the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee where it will be prepped for a second and third reading.

Recent conflicts between Israel and Palestine [HRW backgrounder] over settlements in the occupied West Bank have raised concerns over possible human rights violations. Last month Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] urged [JURIST report] businesses to cease operations in Israel settlements. In August UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged both sides of the conflict [JURIST report] to reconcile and move towards peace after an attack occurred in the West Bank village of Duma, where Jewish extremists allegedly set fire to a Palestinian home while the family slept. In April HRW alleged [report] that Israeli settlement farmers in the occupied West Bank are using Palestinian child laborers in dangerous conditions in violation of international laws. Last January Germany’s top human rights official urged Israel to cooperate with the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] probe into possible war crimes in Palestinian territories. After a prosecutor for the ICC announced the investigation [JURIST report], Israel’s government said that it would not work with the ICC and called for its funding to be cut.