The Danish Foreign Ministry announced Friday the cessation of financial aid, along with a more stringent vetting process, for the transfer of funds to Palestinian NGOs. The move came after the Ministry of Strategic Affairs provided information to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that European funds are going to Palestinian NGOs that have ties to terrorist organizations and promote boycotts against Israel, and after Strategic Affairs Minister Erdan sent a letter to the Danish Foreign Minister insisting Denmark halt such funding.

In an official statement, Danish Foreign Minister Samuelsen wrote that he attaches great importance to ensuring Danish aid is used properly. It is for this reason that the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs began, in May of this year, a comprehensive examination of the funds distributed to Palestinian NGOs. The results of those findings led the Danish government to conclude that there was a need to toughen the conditions and terms surrounding finances given to Palestinian organizations.

According to the announcement, most of the Danish aid frozen in recent months will be returned to government coffers. Samuelsen made it clear that many organizations currently receiving Danish support will no longer continue to do so. In recent years, Denmark has been a member of the Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Secretariat, a European government funding mechanism based in Ramallah which includes Switzerland, the Netherlands and Sweden. Among the organizations supported by the Secretariat are Palestinian NGOs which promote de-legitimization and boycotts against the State of Israel, and have links to “The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine” (PFLP)— an organization deemed a terrorist group both by the EU and the United States.

Examples of such NGOs include Al-Haq and Addameer, of which several of their senior administrators have close ties to the PFLP, including Al-Haq’s executive director Shawan Jabarin (who previously served time in Israeli prisons for his involvement with the terrorist group).

Referring to the announcement by Danish Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen, Minister of Strategic Affairs Gilad Erdan said: “Friday’s announcement by the Danish Foreign Ministry is a significant win for the State of Israel, and a severe blow to our adversaries. It is absurd that these so-called Palestinian NGOs are promoting a distorted and false picture of Israel, and even worse, maintaining ties with terrorist organizations, while receiving European funding. It is for this reason I congratulate Foreign Minister Samuelsen for his just and resolute decision. I am glad that Denmark understood that the Danish taxpayer should not finance, directly or indirectly, Palestinian organizations which have direct connections to terrorist groups. I call on other countries in Europe to exercise the same moral responsibility and take similar steps.”

At the start of the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday, 6 Teves, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu stated, “Over the weekend I instructed the Foreign Ministry to withdraw from UNESCO. I think that this is appropriate, given this organization’s biased, one-sided and absurd attitude toward us, and against the background of the US’s strong stand at the UN, which we welcome.

“At the same time, we have been informed of the Danish government’s decision to tighten its criteria for supporting Palestinian NGOs. I have met with the Danish Prime Minister and spoke with him by telephone, and with the Danish Foreign Minister, and afterwards with European foreign ministers at the meeting in Brussels, in which a Danish representative was present, and I demanded that they all stop supporting organizations that support terrorism and promote boycotts of Israel.

“Denmark has decided on this step; it is neither the first nor the last. We will continue with this line”.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)