In preparation for the "farewell visit" held in October in Israel by former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, heads of the "Choosing Life" forum of bereaved families and victims of hostilities and Matan Peleg, chairman of the "If You Will" movement, published an open letter to the German guest entitled "German Government Involvement The contents of the letter dealt with the large amount of funding that the German government transfers, directly and indirectly, to political organizations in Israel, which are affiliated with the extreme left.
"These government funds" are invested in Israeli organizations that support the boycott of Israel (BDS), organizations that work to change Israel's immigration policy, to encourage international pressure on it and also organizations that work to change Israel's war policy on terror through legal proceedings and international pressure. In recent years, 34 significant political organizations in Israel, all identified with the extreme left. During the years 2021-2012, the amount is NIS 84,204,316, a huge amount in Israeli terms. "
Palestinian Authority Chairman Abu Mazen (Archive), Photo: Reuters
"What is certain," the letter adds, "is that the flow of German tax money to pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel organizations is not going to resolve any conflict, does not bring peace and only encourages bloodshed. More than 17% of the amount mentioned above was transferred to organizations that protect terrorists and their families in Israeli courts. Terrorists who murdered innocent Israelis or took part in their murder for ideological reasons "Terrorism ... So today, any potential terrorist who is undecided whether to commit an act of terrorism or not, knows that no matter what he does and how many Israelis he kills, he will receive excellent legal protection, since German-funded Israeli organizations will protect him."
The letter ends with sharp words: "In our opinion, the government funding that Germany transfers to political organizations in Israel is a despicable and anti-democratic political subversion. Beyond that, it is also a waste of money from the German taxpayer, and it would be better if you invested it in your citizens. "Political organizations that work to change its immigration policy or to change your economic policy in the European Union, and certainly do not fund activities that provide a legal envelope for terrorists and their families in Germany, so do not do this to us."
PM Bennett in his meeting with former German Chancellor Merkel, October // Photo: GPO
Thus, while the current Israeli prime ministers go out of their way to praise Merkel for her contribution to relations between the two countries, they do everything possible to avoid pointing out the great problems that exist in these relations, which grew under the former chancellor, "dare" chiefs "choose life" and "mother You will want to "violate the false idyll, and try to bring up for discussion the most essential issue of the great German involvement in Israel's internal affairs, which is an ongoing undermining of the existence of the Jewish state, in stark contrast to all subsequent formal verbal commitments from Berlin.
On the blatant preference of Germany for left-wing and far-left organizations in Israel, Kabel testified with the Committee about the serious diplomatic incident that took place during the visit of the German Foreign Minister of the Merkel government, the Social Democrat Sigmar Gabriel, to Israel in spring 2017.
His country's embassy organized a meeting for the visiting minister with representatives of "non-governmental organizations", the kind of meetings that the German Foreign Ministry organizes for senior German government officials visiting countries suffering from a lack of democracy.
This was a time when left-wing organizations supported by Germany and other foreign countries - mostly European - complained that a "de-legitimization campaign" was being waged against them by the right-wing camp in Israel.
This is mainly due to the requirements to maintain complete transparency regarding the foreign funding of these organizations.
Prime Minister Bennett and German Chancellor Merkel at a joint press conference convened (archive), Photo: AFP
The office of the Prime Minister and the current chairman of the opposition, MK Benjamin Netanyahu, forwarded to the German side a request to invite to the meeting also representatives of civic organizations affiliated with the right, in order to create at least outward visibility of balance. The request was rejected outright, and since representatives of Breaking the Silence and B'Tselem were also summoned to the meeting, Netanyahu announced the cancellation of his planned meeting with Gabriel. This was the first time that any Israeli government had initiated a protest against German support for the Israeli left. Later, Netanyahu also handed over to Merkel a list of anti-Israel organizations and activities that receive German support. Merkel's associates leaked information about the list, claiming that it was an Israeli intervention in Germany's internal affairs.
The German government has long debated whether to respond to the open letter sent by the heads of "Voters in Life" and "If You Will".
A human error, apparently, led to the question of the reply letter sent a few weeks late being attached to the internal correspondence of German Foreign Ministry officials on the matter, which allows a glimpse into the German administration's attitude towards right-wing organizations in Israel.
Palestinian construction in Area C in the southern Hebron Mountains, Photo: Oren Ben Hakon
Here is the opinion of the German Foreign Ministry on the initiators of the open letter: "The letter comes from Israeli non-governmental organizations, which should belong to the political right in Israel. -Israeli and Palestinian governments, working for the peace process and the two-state solution based on international law and UN Security Council resolutions. For that matter, the organization ('If You Will') does not shy away from controversial exaggerations ('These propaganda organizations are flourishing thanks to the conflict and need it to survive, and Germany has turned the confrontation into a business') and false claims have been proven as such ('September 28, 2021, active' B'Tselem 'caught while setting fire to an Arab building in the Hebron area with the aim of blaming Jews'). Details of the projects included in the German assistance programs for human rights, mediation in conflicts and the creation of stability, as well as for the activities of the German political foundations in the field,Can be seen in the appendices. The sources for the data indicated in the letter in relation to the level of German support for the local organizations are not specified, and therefore we are unable to confirm them. "
Lack of transparency
Here, it is important to note that the German government and all funds and organizations that receive funds on its behalf to support Israeli and Palestinian "civil society" organizations maintain complete masking regarding the amount of money transferred to these organizations, so there is no way to know with absolute certainty how much German aid and German organizations Transferring to Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
The assessment stated in the open letter is based on data, collected with much effort and only from information sources exposed by NGO Monitor.
The organization says that in Germany - more than in any other Western country - there is an almost complete lack of transparency regarding the dimensions of aid to Israeli and Palestinian organizations.
That is, more likely to assume that the amounts are higher.
During the tenure of the previous Bundestag, the right-wing party "Alternative to Germany" addressed a question to the German government, in order to find out how much money is transferred from the tax money paid by German citizens to Israeli and Palestinian organizations.
The German government declined to give details, claiming it was confidential.
Why are the Germans hiding this information?
Is this done so that we do not know how deeply they are involved in efforts to change the political reality in the country?
At a not very distant time in German history, this method of work was called "Night and Fog".
Has official Germany learned any lesson from history, or does it continue to use old practices?
Further to their opinion, German Foreign Ministry officials recommend responding to the open letter due to the public and media presence of the letter-sending organizations in Israel "and the ongoing de-legitimization system" against "Israeli and Palestinian human rights defenders."
The purpose of the answer is to flatten the "purpose, way and audit mechanisms of the collaboration."
"They lied in the internal correspondence." Director General of the "If You Will" movement, Matan Peleg, Photo: Kobi Doverz
It was estimated that the reply letter would be sent to the Israeli media. The official response letter sent to the initiators of the appeal reads, among other things: "The German government is working with partners from Israeli civil society and the Occupied Palestinian Territories to tackle obstacles to peace and advance the peace process by encouraging non-violence, international law and universal human rights as fundamental values." Hello .... The German government does not work with partners who promote or are involved in violence and who deny Israel's right to exist. We do not fund projects that actively promote the BDS. German funds are not political entities and operate independently of the German government. "We do not necessarily adopt all the positions expressed by the partners from civil society or independent organizations, whose basic right to freedom of expression is part of democratic and pluralistic societies such as Israel and Germany."
The German Foreign Ministry's official letter further emphasizes: "Allegations of any involvement with punished individuals or entities or even misconduct are taken very seriously and investigated in depth. Our partner organizations are required by law to provide us with details of their expenses and activity report.
At the same time, we stand by human rights defenders and civil society organizations facing false accusations and disinformation systems. "
In response, Peleg sent a very forceful letter to the German Foreign Ministry this week, in which he flatly rejected the accusations against his organization made by the German side.
Peleg attached evidence that he said refuted all German allegations of "exaggeration" on the part of his organization, as well as allegations that Germany did not fund hostile organizations to Israel.
"Two suspicions arise," Peleg writes, "either they lied in the internal correspondence between you, or you know the truth and you are all lying to the general public."
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