Fiorello Provera (EFD). – (IT) Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, this debate confirms many prejudices about Israel, which continue to influence the European Union’s Middle East policy.

Today we are discussing a bill in the Knesset that actually no longer exists, since it has been substantially changed. The new bill calls for total transparency regarding funding from abroad for non-governmental organisations (NGOs) operating in Israel, some of which, it has to be said, are more involved in politics than in humanitarian aid.

This call for transparency does not appear to me to restrict people’s freedom of association, but today we are discussing it as if it did. We should not be surprised, then, at the diffidence of Israeli politicians towards the European Union, and that may account for why we are not sitting at the Israeli-Palestinian negotiating table, even though we are the main donor in the region.

We should instead be discussing how to improve the transparency and traceability of our procedures for financing the NGOs and United Nations agencies operating in the region. By doing so, we would remove any doubts about our political positions.

I will conclude with a proposal: instead of discussing this bill, why do we not organise a debate on the growing anti-Semitism in Europe, especially after the statements by Mr De Gucht?