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Amendment to Associations Law: Spells Elimination of Civil Society Organizations

>> Click here to read the full Position Paper

The bill to amend the Associations Law (Donation from a Foreign Political Entity, 2024) is part of broader regime-change measures led by the current government.

Approved by the Ministerial Committee for Legislation on 16 February 2025, the bill seeks to shut down or significantly weaken civil society organizations in Israel, primarily those dealing with human rights and critical of the government, by imposing a heavy tax of 80% on donations from a foreign political entity and revoking their right to appeal to the courts. In contrast, NPOS affiliated with the government would be exempt and allowed to continue operating as usual.

The bill aims to close down independent civil society organizations in Israel by drying up funding sources for many of them. This is an extreme measure even by global standards: an 80% tax on foreign donations is significantly higher than in such authoritarian states as Russia (24%), Nicaragua (10%-30%), and El Salvador (40%).

Key Implications and Dangers:
• Direct harm to human rights organizations and critical NPOs: The high taxation would deter donors, leading to a reduction in their activities and even their closure.
• Politicization of NPOs in Israel: The law would create a system that classifies organizations according to political loyalty criteria. NPOs aligned with the government would receive benefits, while critical ones would be financially “dried out.”
• Violation of fundamental rights, such as freedom of expression and association: NPOs’ ability to function, voice criticism, and appeal to the courts would be undermined and they would be unable to file petitions against government decisions. The freedom of occupation of thousands of employees and volunteers would be infringed upon.
• Severe harm to marginalized populations: The law would impair NPOs’ ability to assist groups such as Palestinians, women, LGBTQ individuals, asylum seekers, victims of police violence, and other vulnerable communities. The bill specifically aims to shut down independent civil society organizations that work to uphold Israel’s international commitments, both within its sovereign territory and in the occupied Palestinian territories.

In addition, the bill is part of the delegitimization campaign against civil society waged by the current government, as it seeks to classify Israeli NPOs as hostile “foreign agents” and to curtail their activities.

Zulat calls for opposing a bill that is designed to silence and shut down civil society organizations and is a substantial part of the infrastructure being prepared by the government for the transition to a full dictatorship. It contradicts basic democratic principles and is yet another step toward an authoritarian regime. It is designed to silence criticism, restrict the activities of civil society organizations, and prevent assistance to marginalized populations. It is a dangerous move against democracy that should be opposed.

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Dr. Maha Sabbah Karkabi

 

Senior Lecturer in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. She holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from Tel Aviv University (2015), a postdoctoral fellowship at the Center for Gender Studies, SOAS, University of London (2015-2016), a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Sociology at Tel Aviv University (2016-2017), and a postdoctoral fellowship Ph.D. at the Humphrey Institute for Social Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (2018-2020).
Dr. Maha Karbahi’s areas of interest focus on the connection between social change, family behavior, and gender inequality in societies in the process of change and specifically in Palestinian Arab society in Israel. Her research draws attention to the study of family life and employment, using a combined “ethnic lens” and “gender lens” and paying attention to the perspective of Palestinian Arab women, a group characterized by intersections between multiple marginal locations, which over the years has remained hidden from the research eye. Dr. Karkabi-Sabah’s research is published in professional journals and chapters in scientific books that are considered pioneers in family research, work, and gender equality.

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Prof. Frances Raday

Professor Emeritus in the Lieberman Chair in Labor Law, in the Faculty of Law at the Hebrew University and serves as a full professor in the College of Management’s academic track, where she also serves as chair of the graduate program and as honorary president of the Concord Center for International Law Absorption. Radai was a member of a working group of the UN Human Rights Council on discrimination against women. In addition, she is a prominent and feminist human rights activist.

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Dr. Rawia Aburabia 

Faculty member of Sapir Academic College’s School of Law, received her PhD from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Her research deals with the interface between law, gender, minorities, and human rights. Has published in leading journals on the subject of the matrimonial laws pertaining to Muslim women in Israel. Her book Under the Law, Outside Justice: Polygamy, Gendered Citizenship, and Colonialism in Israeli Law is expected to be published as part of the Gender Series of Kibbutz Meuhad Publishing House.

Dr. Aburabia has extensive experience in international human rights and public law. She has worked as a jurist for the Association for Civil Right and has been invited as a specialist to address such international forums as the United Nations and the European Parliament on the subject of indigenous communities and minority rights. She has interned with Human Rights Watch in Washington DC, and has been a member of the executive board of Amnesty International. In 2018, she was selected by the magazine Globes as one of the 40 most promising young persons in Israel under the age of 40.

 

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Ron Kessler

With over two decades of experience in the field of digital content, Ron has participated in numerous political and social campaigns. He helped run the digital activity of senior public officials, and worked in various NGOs. Ron is a fundamentally optimistic man, who believes that Israel can be changed and so can people. Lives in Tel Aviv.