Donations to Israeli NGO rise tenfold after government attack

Donations to Israeli NGO B’Tselem have risen tenfold following a public attack on its activities by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Last week, B’Tselem executive director Hagai El-Ad addressed the United Nations Security Council as part of a special session on Israel’s settlements and military occupation.

Following El-Ad’s speech, Netanyahu lambasted the NGO for joining a “chorus of slander” against Israel. Subsequently, according to 972mag, “thousands of right-wingers took to social media to call for El-Ad’s execution.”

In the week that followed, however, “B’Tselem reported a fivefold increase in ‘small’ donations, which come from individuals, rather than from organizations.”

Then, after Knesset coalition chair David Bitan proposed the revocation of El-Ad’s citizenship, “the donations have increased tenfold.”