In a recent development, it has been reported that the US State Department is funding an organisation that has been actively involved in organising anti-Netanyahu protests in Israel over judicial overhaul.
According to sources, the US State Department has granted funds to the “Movement for Quality Government,” an Israeli organisation that has been at the forefront of the protests against the current Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and also protesting against the judicial reforms which the Israeli PM seeks to bring in.
Israeli funding documents examined by the Washington Free Beacon show that the U.S. government has been giving taxpayer money to the left-wing organisation “Movement for Quality Government”, which is, in turn, funding the demonstrations against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
A senior government official accompanying Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on his weekend trip to Italy asserted on Friday that the Biden administration had contributed financially to the large-scale demonstrations against the controversial judicial reforms.
He said that millions of dollars were used to fund and plan this protest. “We are following what is happening. This is a very high-level organization. There is an organized centre from which all the demonstrators branch out in an orderly manner,” the senior official said.
The Movement for Quality Government has been organizing protests against Netanyahu for several years, calling for his resignation over allegations of corruption and abuse of power. The organization has been instrumental in mobilizing large-scale demonstrations, including the recent protests that have taken place across Israel.
On Channel 14 News, a source intimately associated with the premier, pro-Netanyahu analyst Yakov Bardugo made a similar assertion last week.
And on Saturday night, Netanyahu’s son Yair posted a story about a report in the far-right Washington Free Beacon that claimed the State Department funds the Movement for Quality Government, a group that has been at the forefront of the demonstrations against the judicial reform, through grants.
Nevertheless, that financing started under the Trump administration, and according to the State Department, it particularly supports programmes that teach students about democracy in Israeli schools.
The legislative plans by the right-religious government, Israel’s most hardline to date, have sparked mass public protests in Israel for over two months, as well as fierce backlash from opposition politicians and dire warnings from economists, business leaders, legal experts and security officials.
The statements by the top official and others close to the premier are a sign of the difficulties Netanyahu is facing in his government’s relations with the US, with the official response seemingly being to lash out at Washington.
Talking about the incident Rep. Jim Banks said “If the shoe was on the other foot, the Biden administration would accuse Israel of interfering in our elections. Congress should absolutely review the State Department’s potential funding of partisan politics in Israel.”
The news of the US State Department’s funding has drawn criticism from Netanyahu’s supporters, who see it as interference in Israel’s domestic affairs. They have accused the US of supporting a campaign to oust the Prime Minister, who they believe has been unfairly targeted by the opposition and the media.
However, supporters of the Movement for Quality Government have defended the organisation, saying that it is a non-partisan group that is committed to promoting good governance and combating corruption in Israel.
The US State Department has not yet commented on the matter, but sources say that the funding was approved after a thorough review of the organisation’s activities and objectives. It remains to be seen how this development will impact the ongoing political situation in Israel, where Netanyahu is facing a tough challenge from his opponents.