3 January 2013

Following an exposé by Haaretz correspondent Barak Ravid that former Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman worked to persuade the Putin government to retract a law limiting activities of democratic and human rights organizations in Russia, NIF Israel Executive Director Rachel Liel took Lieberman to task.  

In a strongly worded op-ed, Liel writes, "Lieberman’s opposition to the law, on the pretext that it would endanger the activities of the Jewish Agency in Russia, was the height of hypocrisy."

Liel sets out Lieberman's record in attacking Israeli human rights organizations and asks, "How can he raise a hand for democracy in Russia and, at the same time raise the other hand against democracy in Israel?"

With elections coming up later this month, she concludes, "This is therefore the time for all of us to take a stand against this doubletalk and for the preservation of civil society as an essential component of democracy.  In Israel, not just in Russia."

Read Rachel Liel's full article here.