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.”

One such organization cited in the report is Lehava, headed by extreme right activist Bentzi Gopstein. This group was originally dedicated to preventing assimilation (through marriage between Arabs and Jews), but in recent years has branched out and launched a campaign of incitement against Arabs — for example, a campaign against Arab bus drivers in Jerusalem titled “Putting the steering wheel in Mohammed’s hands is not good,” as we reported in Al-Monitor, or supporting the burning of churches.

Other organizations mentioned in the report are the “Jewish Idea” yeshiva founded by racist Rabbi Meir Kahane (who was killed in 1990), and the Honenu nongovernmental organization (NGO) that provides legal aid for Jews suspected of terror attacks against Arabs. Among its beneficiaries are Ami Popper, who murdered seven Palestinians in 1990, and members of the Bat Ayn underground who tried to blow up a Palestinian girls’ school in East Jerusalem in 2002.