The appeal was made following the publication in "Israel Today" that the fund increased the volume of donations to bodies that allegedly tried to influence the election • Golan: "Act to prevent foreign interference in the election"
MK Golan
Photography:
Knesset Spokeswoman - Archive
Address to the State Comptroller:
Examine whether the contributions of the New Israel Fund to active organizations in elections meet the requirements of the law.
This is an appeal sent to Comptroller Matanyahu Engelman, on behalf of MK Mai Golan (Likud), following the exposure of "Israel Today" on Sunday this week, according to which the fund flowed 75% higher last year compared to 2018, to four organizations involved in the two election campaigns. In response to Israel Today's request, the Comptroller stated that "MK Golan's request has been accepted and will be examined."
"According to media reports," Golan writes, "the New Israel Fund, a non-profit organization registered in the United States, donated about NIS 2.3 million to organizations that tried to influence the election results in Israel: the organizations' moving ',' standing together ',' Strengthen 'and' Adalah '".
In response to Israel Today's request, the new fund denied the allegations ("a fundamentally flawed claim") and claimed that "the new fund for Israel does not promote political candidates."
According to MK Golan, "The reality that foreign bodies and associations are interfering in the Israeli elections through funding for organizations that were not registered as an active body in the elections at all - is unacceptable.
According to the Party Financing Law, it is forbidden to conduct election activities until after the approval and registration of the State Comptroller.
In addition, the amounts of donations that can be received from foreign entities have been limited. "
As we have published, the four fund-supported organizations have engaged in extensive activities during the last election campaigns in the past year, through social media posts, field activities and even legal assistance to candidates from left-wing lists, including the "joint list".
MK Golan asks the comptroller "to act as soon as possible, in order to prevent foreign interference in the upcoming election campaign, to make an in-depth investigation of whether the sums received as donations in the various organizations met the law, and to exhaust them if they exceeded the law."
