The Swiss Council of States, the upper house of the country’s parliament, has voted a resolution which directs the government to "amend the laws, ordinances and regulations" to prevent funding to NGOs "involved in racist, anti-Semitic or hate incitement actions."

This resolution will have a dramatic effect on Swiss government funding to non-governmental organizations (NGOs), according to watchdog group NGO Monitor.

"For the first time, a European country has passed legislation to end funding for NGOs that are vehicles for incitement and hate speech, specifically including anti-Semitism," noted Prof. Gerald Steinberg, NGO Monitor president.

"This decision marks a fundamental change - when we first approached Swiss government officials, including the Foreign Ministry, their response was denial," he said.

‘’We are seeing a dramatic and broad change in a number of European countries, with the Swiss vote following on the heels of Denmark's decision to freeze funding to Palestinian NGOs, pending an investigation," stressed Prof. Steinberg. "NGO Monitor will continue to work with officials, parliamentarians, and diplomats from Switzerland, Denmark, and throughout Europe to monitor implementation of these changes, particularly regarding Secretariat funding."

The resolution is a slightly modified version of a bill, initiated by Swiss MP Christian Imark, approved by the lower house of the Swiss Parliament (111 to 78, 4 abstentions) last March.

A primary channel for Swiss funding to NGOs in the Arab-Israeli conflict is the Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law ecretariat ("Secretariat"), a joint funding mechanism of Switzerland,Denmark, Sweden, and the Netherlands.

The Secretariat has funded over 40 Israeli and Palestinian NGOs, including groups that engage in "lawfare" against Israeli officials and companies that do business with Israel, promote BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) campaigns, exploit the false "apartheid" analogy to demonize Israel, and promote anti-Semitic propaganda.’’

“Switzerland finances in different ways organizations in Israel and the Palestinian territories that call for the annihilation of Israel and for the death of Jews,” wrote Dominik Feusi, senior editor of Swiss daily Basler Zeitung.

According to a report in the paper, since 2013, the Swiss government has funneled nearly $700,000 to the ‘’Secretariat’’ that has functioned as a front organization, to avoid criticism by Western countries. The office seeks to cover up the anti-Semitic work of its partner NGOs, the report said.

NGO Monitor has extensively documented numerous concerns relating to the Secretariat, which disbursed over $14 million to NGOs in 2014-16. For instance, 15 out of 24 core funding recipients and 11 of 20 project funding grantees in this period support BDS. $7.3 million in core funding went to the groups involved in BDS.

"We are seeing a dramatic and broad change in a number of European countries, with the Swiss vote following on the heels of Denmark's decision to freeze funding to Palestinian NGOs, pending an investigation," stated Prof. Steinberg. "NGO Monitor will continue to work with officials, parliamentarians, and diplomats from Switzerland, Denmark, and throughout Europe to monitor implementation of these changes, particularly regarding Secretariat funding."

''We are seeing a dramatic and broad change in a number of European countries, with the Swiss vote following on the heels of Denmark's decision to freeze funding to Palestinian NGOs, pending an investigation," stated Prof. Steinberg. "NGO Monitor will continue to work with officials, parliamentarians, and diplomats from Switzerland, Denmark, and throughout Europe to monitor implementation of these changes, particularly regarding Secretariat funding."