An Israeli nonprofit has been receiving funding from the U.S. State Department despite allegedly violating its nonpartisan status by leading efforts to have Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu removed from office, according to a Monday report.
Movement for Quality Government (MQG) describes itself as an “independent, non-partisan, grassroots, non-profit organization” that aims to defend Israeli democracy, according to its website. The report found that MQG received $38,000 in U.S. funding from the state department in September 2022 despite working to get Netanyahu out of office as recently as earlier this month, according to the Washington Free Beacon. (RELATED: Palestinian Group Received Handout From Biden Admin Despite Leaders Cheering For Terrorists: REPORT)
The department issued the grant to be used for “workshops held in high schools” in 2022, but received funding as far back as the end of 2020 from the U.S. Department of Statistics, according to the report.
“The State Department has provided small grants to the Movement for Quality Government, including a grant signed in 2020 during the previous administration and continued under the Biden administration that focused on teaching civic education and supporting good governance,” a department spokesperson told the Free Beacon in a statement. The last tranche of funding was awarded in September 2022. The money was meant to be used for democracy training programs in the Israeli school system.”
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a press conference at the State Department on December 22, 2022, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
The group called on the Israeli Supreme Court earlier in February to intervene in Netanyahu’s plans to overhaul the judicial system, claiming he was unfit for office and that he had a conflict of interest since the court was investigating him for graft charges, which Netanyahu firmly denies, according to the Times of Israel. MQG participated in protests outside of Netanyahu’s residence in May 2021 and has tried to get legislation passed that would bar anyone who has committed a crime from serving as prime minister, according to the Jerusalem Post.
U.S. foreign funding to middle eastern organizations has come under scrutiny lately, after multiple reports of U.S. funding going to groups that have ties to Palestinian terrorism, including several Palestinian schools. A bill was introduced by Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas and Republican Sen. James Risch that would halt all U.S. funding through the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) due to concerns that taxpayer dollars are being used to support terrorism against Israel, according to the bill.
“The Movement for Quality Government has worked for decades to subvert Israeli democracy,” Caroline Glick, an American-born, Israel-based political media personality, told the Free Beacon. “It is a slap in the face of the Israeli public and an expression of contempt for Israeli democracy that the State Department is funding this radical group.”
The State Department and MQG did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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