"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday he intends to establish a parliamentary committee to investigate the funding Israeli NGOs receive from foreign governments.
Netanyahu told a gathering of Christian journalists at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem that the committee will probe 'organizations that operate against' Israeli soldiers. The IDF is the most moral army there is, Netanyahu declared, and vowed to put an end to the phenomenon of NGOs that harass IDF soldiers.
According to a report from the Haaretz daily, the decision to set up the committee was taken earlier in the day at a meeting of coalition party chiefs.
At the meeting, Netanyahu stressed the need to check the involvement of foreign governments in internal Israeli politics.
Sources said that all the coalition partners were in favor of the parliamentary committee that was proposed by coalition secretary Likud MK David Bitan.
Netanyahu has in the past pressed foreign governments to end funding for left-wing NGOs and refused to meet with visiting dignitaries who meet with these groups. In particular, he has singled out Breaking the Silence, an organization that collects testimonies from former Israel Defense Forces soldiers about alleged human rights violations they witness in the Palestinian territories during their military service..."