The United States, United Nations, and leading human rights groups expressed concern over the weekend following Israel's decision to designate six groups affiliated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine as terrorist organizations.
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The Defense Ministry said Friday that the groups outlawed for their ties with the PFLP – a left-wing Palestinian faction with a military wing that has carried out dozens of deadly attacks against Israelis – include Al-Haq, a human rights group founded in 1979, as well as the Addameer rights group, Defense for Children International-Palestine, the Bisan Center for Research and Development, the Union of Palestinian Women's Committees, and the Union of Agricultural Work Committees.
"These organizations present themselves as acting for humanitarian purposes, however, they serve as a cover for the PFLP's propaganda and financing," Defense Minister Benny Gantz said in a statement.
"These organizations received large sums of money from European countries and international organizations, using various methods of forgery and deceit," the statement continued," saying the funds are used to support PFLP activities.
Designating the six as terrorist groups allows the state to raid their offices, seize assets, arrest staff and criminalize any public expressions of support for the groups.
The move against the groups was slammed by the Palestinian Authority and international human rights organizations as "a major escalation of its decades-long crackdown on political activism in the occupied territories."
Israeli rights groups also condemned the move as "an assault on civil society."
While the PFLP is on the United States and European Union's terrorism blacklists, the move seemed to irk Washington.
On Friday, State Department Spokesperson Ned Price argued that Jerusalem "didn't give us prior warning about this designation," adding that the US will "seek clarifications" from Israel regarding the decision.
A senior Israeli official, however, told local media on Saturday that Israel "shared with the US intelligence on how the six groups operate as an organized network under the leadership of PFLP," adding that Washington "was duly notified" of Israel's intention to designate the six NGOs as terrorist entities.
But Price said the State Department said it would seek more information from Israel on the move.
"We believe respect for human rights, fundamental freedoms, and a strong civil society are critically important to responsible and responsive governance," he said.
Bereaved families whose loved ones were killed by PFLP terrorists welcomed the decision, calling it "significant."
Rights groups, UN 'alarmed'
An official with the PFLP did not outright reject ties to the six groups but said they maintain relations with civil society organizations across the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
"It is part of the battle Israel is launching against the Palestinian people and against civil society groups, in order to exhaust them," Kayed al-Ghoul said Friday.
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International panned the decision, calling it "an alarming escalation that threatens to shut down the work of Palestine's most prominent civil society organizations."
The United Nations Human Rights Office in the Palestinian territories said it was "alarmed" by the announcement, and panned what it called Israel's "extremely vague or irrelevant reasons" for the decision.
"Counterterrorism legislation must not be used to constrain legitimate human rights and humanitarian work," it said, adding that "these designations are the latest development in a long stigmatizing campaign against these and other organizations, damaging their ability to deliver on their crucial work."
The UN agency further urged Israel to "fully respect the rights to freedom of association and expression, without any interference or harassment against the organizations or their staff," adding that it considers some of the Palestinian organizations to be "key partners."
The Palestinian Authority, which has recently come under international scrutiny over its crackdown on its own critics, condemned what it said was a "strategic assault on Palestinian civil society and the Palestinian people's fundamental right to oppose Israel's illegal occupation."
New York-based Human Rights Watch and London-based Amnesty International slammed Israel's "attempt to muzzle human rights monitoring" in the Palestinian territories and condemned the move as an "attack by the Israeli government on the international human rights movement.
"This decision is an alarming escalation that threatens to shut down the work of Palestine's most prominent civil society organizations."
Far-left Israeli human rights group B'Tselem called the decision "an act characteristic of totalitarian regimes, with the clear purpose of shutting down these organizations," adding it "stands in solidarity with our Palestinian colleagues."
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