Israel threatens NGO's tax status for political stand
In an interview with Al-Monitor, the chairman of Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, Raphael Walden, says that his NGO, which cares for Palestinians and African refugees, might lose its tax benefit status over its criticism against government policy.
Israel's State Comptroller Joseph Shapira is not exactly considered a champion of human rights or a great revolutionary. The opposition contends that he does not relish taking on the government and treats public representatives and civil servants with kid gloves. On May 14, Shapira surprised his critics. On the second anniversary of his appointment, he fired an arrow straight into the apple of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s eye, one of his government flagship projects: the uncompromising war on African asylum seekers.
In the most pointed chapter of his annual report, Shapira determined that the government’s policy on the issue of “nondeportable aliens” (as the chapter is titled) does not conform to the laws of the state and the rules of international law. Not only that, but in reaction to reservations voiced by Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein about this criticism, Shapira suggested that Weinstein reassess his stand. At the same time, he rebuffed pressure from Netanyahu’s office to censor parts of that chapter on the worn pretext of “preserving state security.”
