Gov't to define state's relationship with nonprofits for the first time

The government is to issue in the near future a declaration of principles and a policy paper that will, for the first time, define the relationship among the state, the private sector and nonprofit organizations in Israel.

International experts will be discussing state-nonprofit cooperation in their own countries Monday at a conference at Ma'aleh Hahamisha. Also Monday, Maala: Business for Social Responsibility is holding its annual Conference on Corporate Social Responsibility at the Tel Aviv Conference Center. President Shimon Peres is to give the opening address.

The documents are part of a process, led by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, that is intended to lead to the drafting of a convention that will define the borders of responsibility and of cooperation between the state and civil society. This is to be followed by concrete steps, such as tax relief and, in certain cases, the extension of preferential treatment to nonprofits in tenders for the supply of governmental services.

"The government of Israel views the organizations of civil society, and commercial companies that carry out activities for the sake of social goals that are not purely economic, as partners in the effort to build a better Israeli society," begins the draft declaration of principles obtained by Haaretz. In the document, the state undertakes to include the civil society groups in the setting of social policy, to take advantage of their experience and knowledge, as well as to respect these organizations' independence. At the same time, the state asks the nonprofits to adopt standards of transparency and professionalism.

To deflect charges of evading its obligations, the state emphasizes that it "carries the authority and the responsibility derived from it for setting policy and for providing core services to the public, and supervising them." Nonetheless, it invites nonprofits to partner with it in providing social services and calls on private businesspeople and companies to continue contributing to the community and to society, out of a sense of responsibility for the fate for the latter.

The director general of the Prime Minister's Office, Ra'anan Dinur, has been meeting over the past two months with his counterparts at the ministries of finance, justice, education, welfare and environmental protection to discuss the creation of "round table" forums, with the purpose of addressing a variety of issues with civil society organizations. These meetings will continue during the next several weeks, in preparation for submission of the policy paper to the cabinet for approval.

"In recent decades, Western countries have been undergoing a continual process. The welfare states that were created after World War II do not resemble the welfare states of the third millennium," Olmert wrote in the preface to the policy paper. "We live in a different society from that of the past, which demands of us a different way of thinking." That way of thinking began prior to the Second Lebanon War, but the dominance of the nonprofit sector in providing services to Israelis and the weakness of the state gave a significant push to the process.

The new policy, Olmert writes, is based on the idea that the government is "an agent that enables and encourages processes" for the welfare of citizens, and it must not impede the initiative and innovativeness of the civil organizations that carry out these processes.

Specific measures to be taken by the state to encourage the development of the nonprofit sector and the contribution of businesses, as laid out in the policy paper, include raising from NIS 2.5 million to NIS 10 million the limit for tax exemptions on donations, and eliminating the current 4 percent tax on employee salaries paid by nonprofits.