New bill seeks to crack down on foreign funding in politics
The proposal would allow the chairperson of the Central Elections Committee to grant an injunction that would require the immediate removal of campaign materials that are funded from abroad.
By LAHAV HARKOVUpdated: DECEMBER 9, 2018 16:01 A voting box in the last Israeli election in 2015(photo credit: REUTERS)
Foreign funding for election campaigns is already illegal, but a new bill by Kulanu MK Roi Folkmann hopes to crack down on the phenomenon with swifter, more effective enforcement.The proposal would allow the chairperson of the Central Elections Committee to grant an injunction that would require the immediate removal of campaign materials that are funded from abroad.Folkmann said, “The purpose of the bill is to prevent the publication of propaganda from abroad and give real power to the Central Elections Committee to prohibit this activity.”The Kulanu MK decided to propose the bill following meetings with tech giants like Google and Facebook, in which he found that “too many forces outside of Israel are involved in Israeli politics behind the scenes at the same time as Israeli political groups, with funding propaganda and campaigns and often spreading fake news.”Folkmann expressed hope that his bill will stop misleading activity of this kind.Advertising with unidentified funding from abroad could come in massive enough quantities that it could dramatically change public opinion, he warned.
