Religious Zionism head Bezalel Smotrich said on Monday that human rights organizations are an existential threat to Israel and the incoming government must deal with them by "seizing their funds" and acting against them with legal and security measures.
Smotrich, who has demanded either the defense or finance portfolios as part of coalition negotiations, spoke during a conference hosted by the right-wing activist Ad Kan organization, titled "Human Rights Organizations Operated by Hamas" at the Knesset.
While the conference was originally meant to focus on international organizations, it also mentioned Israeli ones, such as the New Israel Fund, Breaking the Silence and Peace Now.
According to Israel's NGO monitor Guidestar, 36.8 percent of Ad Kan's budget in 2021 came from sources outside Israel, adding up to 911,407 shekels (approximately $263,000).
"There is a very late identification process… if we knew how to identify them in the early stages we would handle them in a much more effective way," Smotrich said, referring to the human rights organizations.
According to Smotrich, "It started small, and today we understand the magnitude of the threat, just like the nationalist extremism of the Arabs of the State of Israel, who also started small-but the threat has evolved. At first, you think it’s a mosquito, and then you understand it's a swarm.
He added that "It is possible and necessary to turn the wheel in the face of the encouragement of terrorism, besmirching and delegitimizing, it is time for us to respond."
Noa Sattath, the executive director of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, responded to Smotrich's speech saying he is "identifying human rights organizations as resolute opponents to the measures he is planning to sabotage democracy, the rule of law and human rights. He is right. We are threatening his distorted vision, and we will stand up to him to defend human rights. We are ready, and behind us is the entire democratic public in Israel."
Amichai Chikli of the Likud said at the conference that "under the guise of human rights organizations and humanitarian activity hides a radical antisemitic and anti-Zionist ideology, whose purpose is to undermine the legitimacy of the State of Israel and spill the blood of its soldiers and citizens."
He also criticized the European Union saying they "are the arrowhead involved in delegitimization."
Labor party head Merav Michaeli responded to Smotrich's speech saying "This is a clear attempt to eliminate the democratic side of the State of Israel and subordinate it to the power that is now called 'Jewish.' It is an unbridled use of power by those who are now strong."
Ad Kan is a right-wing activist organization that infiltrates left-wing organizations that it perceives as anti-Israel.