Yuli Novak, CEO of the leftist organization Breaking the Silence, announced on Monday evening that she will be stepping down after five years. "I learned what a political activist struggle is," Novak wrote on her Facebook page. "I went through years of maturing, of endless baptisms by fire, of true friendships and partnerships for life. After five years, I think I am a little sadder and withdrawn than I was, and hope that I am also someone who is more mature and wiser." "In recent months,” she continued, “I realized that I needed to end my administrative role in ‘Breaking the Silence’. It is the right time for someone else to take the reins and move forward. I'm not leaving the organization and will continue to be part of the struggle against the occupation.” “This place is too important to me, but organizations that engage in such an intense political struggle as we do need to refresh themselves. And I am happy to give the job to someone who will know to take it to new places,” concluded Novak. The leftist Breaking the Silence has come under fire for its anti-Israel activity as well the fact that it was proven to be funded by Palestinian Arab beneficiaries . Last March, an investigative report on Breaking the Silence which aired on Channel 2 found that the group has apparently been collecting sensitive information on IDF methods and equipment. More recently, the Knesset approved the first reading of a law banning Breaking the Silence from entering Israeli schools. The law gives Education Minister Naftali Bennett (Jewish Home) authority to ban individuals or organizations who are not part of the educational system from holding activities in Israeli schools if those activities are meant to impart values opposed to those of the Israeli educational system, or are intended to harm the IDF. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu last week asked Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel to work to ensure that Belgium cease all funding to organizations which work to undermine the IDF and the State of Israel, such as Breaking the Silence. Netanyahu made a similar request to British Prime Minister Theresa May, when he asked that Britain cease all funding to radical leftist NGOs in Israel . He singled out Breaking the Silence as one of the more egregious examples of a European funded NGO which works to undermine the IDF and the State of Israel. Breaking the Silence denied receiving any funding from the British government.
