The controversial NGO law will be brought before the Knesset Monday evening, January 25 for its first of three readings.

The bill was drafted by Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked and is expected to pass its first reading due to the fact that it was approved by the Ministerial Committee for Legislation (MCL) at the end of December, which requires coalition members to support it.

The draft caused an outcry among left-wing politicians and activists who argued that it was designed to discriminate against left-wing NGOs. Indeed, it included a clause requiring that activists lobbying in the Knesset for an NGO primarily funded by foreign governments wear a tag indicating as such.

While Prime Minister Netanyahu, a supporter of the bill, recommended in a cabinet meeting last week that this requirement be scrapped on the grounds that “it is unnecessary,” he rejected the notion that the bill constituted any infringement on democratic freedom and insisted that foreign-funded Israeli NGOs account for their finances “down to every shekel.”