Israel: PM seeks to ban foreign funding of NGOs

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on Sunday for a ban on funding from foreign states to Israeli human rights organizations, local media reported.

Israeli newspaper Haaretz said Netanyahu believed a law passed last year, which compels NGOs to reveal foreign funding, was too weak.

Netanyahu's government has argued foreign governments interfere in Israeli affairs by funding NGOs, and right-wing groups have accused left-wing groups of being foreign "moles."

Human rights groups claim, however, that they have been targeted by the policy even though right-wing groups also receive funding from abroad, though usually from private organizations.

On Israel's request, Norway recently withdrew funding for a Palestinian women's organization after it was named after Dalal Maghrabi, who led an attack that killed 37 Israelis in 1978.

Netanyahu also revealed Sunday, during his weekly Cabinet meeting, that he wanted the UN agency in charge of Palestinian refugees, the UNRWA, dismantled because he claimed it incited against Israel.