An Israeli nonprofit dedicated to promoting tolerance presented on March 21 a report titled “Funding Racism" in the Knesset Committee on Transparency headed by Knesset member Stav Shaffir. The report by the Tag Meir forum indicates that the State of Israel provides direct or indirect funding to radical right-wing organizations described as “racist” or “of a racist complexion.” Tag Meir, Hebrew for “Light Tag,” is a coalition of Israeli organizations founded in 2011 as a counterweight to the hate crimes perpetrated by rightist Jewish groups against Arabs and other non-Jews — attacks known in Hebrew as “price tag."
The report’s author, Noam Vilder, told Al-Monitor that the findings paint a frightening picture that she assessed is only the tip of the iceberg of a sophisticated scheme for funneling money to radical right-wing organizations, “eroding the fabric of co-existence, damaging the values of tolerance in Israel society, and mongering hatred between Jews and Arabs.”