Biden-era tax dollars funded anti-Netanyahu, judicial reform protest groups, US gov't report finds

Yahoo

3 days ago

The investigation also revealed that the administration may have funded groups with ties to US-designated terrorist organizations such as Hamas.
United States tax dollars may have been used to fund protests against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's judicial reform plan during the Biden-Harris administration, an investigation published by the US House of Representatives on Thursday revealed.
In March, The Jerusalem Post reported that six US and Israeli NGOs were being investigated by the House Judiciary and Foreign Affairs committees to ascertain whether funding they allegedly received from the Biden administration was utilized for the judicial reform protests in 2023.
The Committee's oversight also revealed that the Biden-Harris Administration provided grant funds to groups that 'contributed directly and indirectly to the judicial reform protests that sought to undermine the Israeli government,' the investigation stated.
Among the groups that received the largest amount of funding were Blue and White Future and the Movement for the Quality of Government in Israel.
'Under Israeli law, BWF's direct involvement in the protests and plots against Prime Minister Netanyahu's government 'may constitute a violation of the law and the conditions of the Registrar of Associations in Israel by 'operating outside of its stated goals' as a nonprofit organization, the investigation stated.
Funding groups with ties to terror groups
Additionally, the investigation suggested that the Biden-Harris administration 'potentially funded groups with ties to US-designated terrorist organizations.'
Notably, the Gaza-based NGO Bayader Association for Environment and Development has received nearly one million dollars in US funding since 2016, despite 'openly collaborat[ing] with Hamas officials, including holding joint events with Hamas leaders.'
The most recent grant issued by USAID to Bayader was on October 1, 2023, a week before the October 7 massacre.
'These ties are not new,' the investigation stated. 'For instance, in 2021, Bayader's annual report notes 'coordination' and 'meetings' with Hamas's Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Works, Ministry of Social Affairs, and Ministry of Agriculture.'
In 2023, a Bayader staff member was seen embracing senior Hamas officials, including the son of former Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.
The investigation is still ongoing, and will be expanded to include additional American and Israeli NGOs that may be involved in 'funneling US government funds with the purpose of undermining the Israeli government or for the support or fiscal sponsorship of terrorist groups.'
Netanyahu, Likud call efforts an 'attempt to undermine rule of democratically elected' right-wing government
Netanyahu shared the Likud Party's statement in a post to X/Twitter on Friday, calling the efforts an attempt to "undermine the rule of a democratically elected, stable right-wing government."
"As part of the attempt to overthrow the government, external pressures were applied, leading to a deep social rift, encouragement of disobedience, and dangerous divisions within Israeli society."
"Worse still, the document reveals that the same hand funding left-wing political NGOs in Israel also funded, through intermediary organizations, groups associated with Hamas and international campaigns against the State of Israel."
"What we have been saying for years is now being revealed before everyone's eyes. This is not a theory, it is not a conspiracy – it is a proven fact backed by official documents," Netanyahu and the Likud's statement read.