Israel: Dutch must stop funding group that exposed Gaza crimes

Ma'an
Israel's ambassador to the Netherlands called on the country to rethink funding for an Israeli organization that exposed various atrocities committed during Israel's latest assault on Gaza.

The Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz uncovered the demands on Sunday; the report says Israeli Ambassador to the Netherlands Harry Knei-Tal met with the director-general of the Dutch Foreign Ministry and complained about its support for Breaking the Silence, an Israeli organization that recently published Israeli soldiers' accounts of attrocities committed during the recent war on Gaza.

The group was founded by veterans of the Israeli military, which most citizens are required to join, and frequently critiques Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories and the army's behavior.

According to Breaking the Silence, Israel's Foreign Ministry is on a "witch hunt...only a part of which was exposed in the Haaretz report," and represents "erosion of democratic culture in the State of Israel."

"The attempts to silence voices from Israeli civil society are dangerous. As opposed to reports, the IDF [Israel's military] has never denied the [validity of the] testimonies and it and the foreign ministry's virulent reaction... only strengthens the position of the testifying soldiers, who are not willing to be exposed," the group added.

"It looks like the ministry draws ideas from shady regimes, in which those who point out internal failures are considered traitors," the organization added.

The group made headlines in Israel and abroad when it published interviews with some 30 soldiers in a booklet and on its website earlier this month. The testimonies by anonymous soldiers alleged a number of crimes and atrocities in Gaza...

According to Haaretz' source, Israel's ambassador to the Netherlands suggested that the Dutch stop funding the human rights organization...

The political-director for the Dutch Embassy in Tel Aviv said the Netherlands would reconsider funding for Breaking the Silence in the future, an apparent Israeli victory that comes amid recently announced plans to take on nongovernmental organizations critical of Israeli policy.

Israel's Foreign Ministry is yet to harass Spain or the UK, according to Haaretz, two countries that also fund the organization but are much more politically powerful than the Netherlands. Full story