"Fundamentals of Finance – Amendment No. 40", sometimes referred to as the Nakba Law, is a 2011

Israeli law Israeli law is based mostly on a common law legal system, though it also reflects the diverse history of the territory of the State of Israel throughout the last hundred years (which was at various times prior to independence under Ottoman, th ...

which received criticism for limiting freedom of speech pertaining to the founding of Israel and the

Nakba Clickable map of Mandatory Palestine with the depopulated locations during the 1947–1949 Palestine war. The Nakba ( ar, النكبة, translit=an-Nakbah, lit=the "disaster", "catastrophe", or "cataclysm"), also known as the Palestinian Ca ...

. The law affects organizations which are funded, in whole or in part, by the government. The law authorizes the Minister of Finance to withhold a limited amount of state funds from any government-funded institution or body that commemorates “Israel’s Independence Day or the day on which the state was established as a day of mourning”, or that denies the existence of Israel as a “Jewish and democratic state.” The amount of state funds withheld is related to the amount of money spent on the event, capped at three times the amount of money spent.

This article incorporates a translation of text from this source, which is in the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...

Background

The law was first proposed in 2008 by

Alex Miller Alex Miller (born 4 July 1949) is a Scottish football manager and former player. As a player, he had a 15-year career with Rangers, winning several trophies. As a manager, he won the 1991–92 Scottish League Cup with Hibernian. He subsequen ...

, and preliminarily approved by the Ministerial Committee for Legislation on May 24, 2009. The proposal was rejected and sent to the Committee for Constitution, Law, and Justice for revision. Thirty-seven members of the

Knesset The Knesset ( he, הַכְּנֶסֶת ; "gathering" or "assembly") is the unicameral legislature of Israel. As the supreme state body, the Knesset is sovereign and thus has complete control of the entirety of the Israeli government (with ...

voted in favor of the law, and twenty-five voted against. Sixty out of 120 MKs did not show up for the vote, including

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu (; ; born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who served as the ninth prime minister of Israel from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2009 to 2021. He is currently serving as Leader of the Opposition and Chairman of ...

Provisions

The law affects organizations which are funded, in whole or in part, by the government. It declares that the Minister of Finance is authorized to withhold transfer of state funds, if the primary goal of the funds spent was to do one of the following: # Denying the existence of the State of Israel as a Jewish and Democratic State # Incitement of racism, violence, or terrorism # Supporting armed conflict or acts of terror, of an enemy state or a terror organization, against the State of Israel # Referring to the Israeli Independence Day or the founding day of the country as a day of mourning # An act of vandalism or physical debasement of the flag or symbols of the state

Effects

In 2019,

Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) ( he, אוּנִיבֶרְסִיטַת תֵּל אָבִיב, ''Universitat Tel Aviv'') is a public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Locate ...

cancelled a lecture by the politician

Ofer Cassif Ofer Cassif ( he, עֹופֶר כַּסִיף, born 25 December 1964) is a far-left Israeli politician who has represented Hadash in the Knesset since April 2019. Biography Cassif was born in Rishon LeZion on 25 December 1964. He attended Sha ...

, citing the law as the reason. This was the first instance of an academic institution heeding this law.

References

Citations

Bibliography