After a long debate the Israeli parliament has approved a law on NGOs funded from abroad. The authorities reported that the draft law was adopted to prevent foreign interference in the internal affairs of Israel. The opposition considers the draft as an another obstacle to the work of NGOs.

57 MPs voted for the bill, 48 against , reports the BBC Russian Service. The law on NGOs , more than half of the budget of which is based on donations from foreign governments or institutions , have become obliged to provide detailed information about the source of foreign financing , publish it in the documents, as well as on their Web site .

It is necessary "to prevent absurd situations", which allow foreign nations "to meddle in internal Israeli affairs" without the public's knowledge, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commented on the bill.

The opponents of the bill say that it has a discriminatory nature. The opposition leader Isaac Herzog of the centre-left Zionist Union party told called the new law " the budding fascism creeping into Israeli society.”

The law does not mention the left-wing NGOs , including those that specialize in providing assistance to the Palestinian population. However, since many of them are financed from abroad, the law will, first of all,  apply to them .