Nine European countries said Tuesday that they have seen "no substantial evidence" to support Israel's allegations that six Palestinian civil society groups are terrorist organizations and would not change their policies on supporting the groups.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
The rare joint statement was a major rebuke of Israel, which blacklisted the groups as terrorist organizations last October. The rights groups denied the allegations.
"Accusations of terrorism or links to terrorist groups must always be treated with the utmost seriousness," read the statement, issued by Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and Sweden.
"No substantial information was received from Israel that would justify reviewing our policy towards the six Palestinian NGOs on the basis of the Israeli decision to designate these NGOs as 'terrorist organizations'" it said.
"Should evidence be made available to the contrary, we would act accordingly," it added.
The announcement came a day before US President Joe Biden is scheduled to arrive on a visit that is expected to include meetings with Palestinian civil society representatives, though it is unlikely he will meet any of the groups targeted by Israel.
Israel accused the groups of serving as a front for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a left-wing movement that has a political party as well as an armed wing that has carried out deadly attacks against Israelis going back decades. Israel and Western nations consider the PFLP a terrorist organization.
The blacklisted organizations are the Al-Haq human rights group, 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.
In its October 22 announcement, the Defense Ministry said the organizations are "controlled by senior leaders" of the PFLP and employ its members, including some who have "participated in terror activity." It said the groups serve as a "central source" of financing for the PFLP and had received "large sums of money from European countries and international organizations."
All six organizations have continued operating.
Prof. Gerald Steinberg, the president of the watchdog group NGO Monitor, said: "When European countries claim there is a lack of evidence that their sub-contractors have ties to terror, they are intentionally ignoring open material that has been presented to them and the public for years.
"The Europeans are turning a blind eye and facilitating, with their own hands, the gross exploitation of funds intended for humanitarian aid and human rights. NGO Monitor will continue investigating and publishing the connections between the PFLP terrorist organization and the network of organizations with European funding."
The Dutch government announced in January that it would stop funding the Union of Agricultural Work Committees after it found evidence that individual staffers were linked to the PFLP. But it said it found no evidence the group had "organizational ties" to the PFLP or was involved in funding or carrying out terrorism, as Israel had alleged.
Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!
