More than half the Jewish public in Israel supports outlawing “Breaking the Silence,” an NGO funded by European and Palestinian groups that disseminates testimonies of soldiers about IDF “atrocities” taking place in Judea and Samaria. According to a TNS Israel Institute survey conducted for Israel’s Channel 10 News, 53% of respondents are in favor of outlawing the organization, 22% oppose it, and 25% are not sure.
Breaking the Silence made headlines this past week at the Ha’aretz conference in New York, which included as a speaker President Reuven Rivlin. Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon took the opportunity to announce that members of the organization will no longer be permitted to meet with IDF soldiers, and Education Minister Naftali Bennett forbade them to enter the school system, telling Channel 10 News that the aim of BTS is “to isolate Israel like the BDS.”
A right-wing organization named “Im Tirtzu” published a video in which members of left-wing NGOs are presented as “plants” sponsored by foreign countries, who are aiding and abetting Arab terrorists. The video supports a new bill seeking to restrict left-wing NGOs in Israel and to force them to reveal their funding sources.
The same survey also asked, “What do you think of the latest attack in the social networks and some media channels against the President” [for his sharing a stage with anti-Zionist NGOs in New York, as well as for his rebuke of “Jewish terrorists” in the Duma village arson, without evidence or even charges to this effect] — almost two-thirds said the criticism was legitimate, although a third of the respondents said it may cause incitement that could jeopardize the president, and 32% said the criticism does not amounts to incitement. Only 19% believe that the criticism is not legitimate.
The right-wing cable Channel 20 posted on its Facebook page an entry saying Rivlin “is not my president,” which has become a rallying cry for some right-wing surfers. In Israel, where the left often fights right-wing criticism by saying it would lead to murder, this slogan was filed under the same pre-murder category. However, on Thursday President Rivlin awarded in a public ceremony about $40 thousand to a dozen academic researchers in the humanities, which probably means that he has survived the slogan unscathed.
