In recent years, Israeli officials have become more and more worried about what they see as a concerted international campaign to de-legitimize the Jewish state.

Right-wing Israeli politicians have also complained about an enemy within, funded by foreign governments. They say left-wing non-governmental organizations inside Israel are part and parcel of this campaign to smear Israel’s government and military with lies.

The hard-line party of Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman – Yisrael Beitenu – is sponsoring a bill that would launch an investigation into the funding sources of left-wing rights groups.

The bill accuses a host of organizations of falsely portraying members of the Israeli military as war criminals and rights abusers.

When the bill came up for debate on the floor of the Israeli parliament this week, things got pretty heated, even by the Knesset’s own standards for being a place where politics is conducted bare knuckle-style.

One lawmaker said the bill said amounted to “borderline McCarthyism.”

Another called out, “it’s a black day for Israel,” only to be shouted down by someone saying, “it’s a black day for the enemies of Israel.”

The proposed bill is now headed toward a full Knesset vote.

If it passes, some Israeli rights groups would be investigated by parliament to see if they are being funded by unfriendly foreign governments.

Mikhael Manekin is co-director of Breaking the Silence, one of the organizations likely to be targetted. The group is a veterans’ organization that collects anonymous testimony from Israeli soldiers who’ve served in the Palestinian territories.

“We actually don’t have a problem with the [Israeli] military or with the soldiers, but rather with the policy of occupation,” Manekin told The World.

“Bascially, the bottom line of the organization is that occupation is an ugly thing and that what we experienced is that you can’t occupy a people politely if they don’t want you there.”

Manekin said he puzzled by the proposed investigation. He said there is no need for an probe into where his group’s funding comes from, because everything is right there on its website.

As for the charge that organizations like Breaking the Silence are providing ammunition to those who seek to delegitimize Israel, Manekin said Israel’s policies speak for themselves.

“If an Israeli goes abroad today and he’s embarrassed, he’s not embarrassed because of an organization like Breaking the Silence, he’s embarrassed because of Israeli policy. Because Israeli policy doesn’t fall in line with what the western world expects.”

Manekin said, “I look at this not only as an Israeli, but the Jewish world in general. They want an affiliation not with any type of Israel. They want an affiliation, not with any type of Israel, they want an affiliation with an Israel that they can be proud of, which falls in line with their value system. And that’s what’s on the table at this point.”

Last month, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the most serious threats facing the state of Israel right now are Iran’s nuclear program, the missile threat from Islamist groups Hamas and Hezbollah, and then, what he called the “Goldstone threat.”

That was a reference to the United Nations inquiry into Israel’s war in Gaza that ended in 2009. The inquiry was headed South African judge, Richard Goldstone.

Netanyanhu said “Goldstone” is a code-word for the international attempt to de-legitimize Israel’s right to self-defense.

Knesset member Danny Danon says the Goldstone report is just one example of how left-wing non-governmental groups are hurting Israel.

“We see riots in Israel, demonstrations, and when you see who is causing all those problems, it’s the same extreme left NGOs,” Danon said.

“I cherish the freedom of speech. But when I see foreign governments intervening in our democracy, it is unacceptable and that’s why I am committed to change it.”

Danon – who is mentioned as a possible candidate to lead any investigation into left-wing groups – said if these groups had nothing to hide, they would not be complaining about a possible investigation.

On the other hand, human rights activists say if the proposed investigation was really about transparency, it would also target right-wing organizations. And those include pro-settler groups receiving money abroad.

The Obama administration also seems to be worried about Israel’s reputation on the world stage. According to one of the Wikeleaks cables, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has expressed concern about the potential fallout for a quote “steadfast ally Israel.”

But the cable goes on to suggest that the solution is to make “urgent headway” on resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Arabic music plays outside a blue, red and yellow appliqué tent luring potential voters into the tent to meet politician Nuf al-Hadid from a Bedouin tribe.

It’s the kind that dominates Jordan’s parliament. But al-Hadid says most members of the tribe reject her candidacy because she is a woman.

“They have been putting heavy pressure on me to withdraw from the race and give way to one of the tribesmen, a former lawmaker, who is the other candidate in the family. They’re supporting him because he’s a man,” al-Hadid said.

She says she’s fighting the perception among some members of her tribe that no woman should serve in parliament.

“It’s been really difficult for me to face this,” al-Hadid said.

“But I believe it’s possible to overcome obstacles. Eventually, they will get used to seeing me as a worthy candidate too. I recently had an argument with one of our relatives who tried to convince me to step down. I’m not running against the tribe, but for the benefit of women to achieve their rights.”

There is one thing sets al-Hadid apart from most of the 133 other women candidates. She wears the niqab – a veil that leaves only the eyes uncovered.

Westerners wouldn’t probably think of a woman who wears such conservative garb as a women’s rights activist. But al-Hadid says that’s exactly what she is.

“I want to help women stand on their feet and say, ‘We are here. We want better economic, social and political rights,’” al-Hadid said.

“We want programs like microcredit financing projects and other employment opportunities for those who cannot get out of their homes. Queen Rania is our example. She is always supporting women and fighting on our behalf.

Women’s rights are controversial in this conservative, tribal society. Up to 20 young women are murdered here each year by male family members in so-called honor killings.

Still, Jordanian women are generally able to pursue jobs in male-dominated fields such as medicine, engineering and business. This parliament will set aside 12 seats for women.

But al-Hadid wants to be elected, not because of a quota system but because of her years of community involvement.

“I am close to the people because I live among them and experience the same things they’re going through,” al-Hadid said.

“I listen to their needs and want to bring these to the government. They’re fed up with past promises that have gone unfulfilled by former lawmakers. They’re looking for change.

Sound familiar?

Reporter Dale Gavlak in Amman, Jordan.

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This week’s podcast comes to you not from The World newsroom in Boston, but the one in London. And since I’m here, let’s load up the show with some tech goodies from this side of the Big Pond. We lead with a podcast exclusive: an interview with bioinformatician David Aanensen, who works in the Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology at Imperial College in London. He and his team have created an app for the Google Android operating system called EpiCollect. The idea is elegantly simple: many scientists are out in the field gathering information on different infectious disease organisms worldwide. Much of that data ends up in databases at Imperial College. Geography is often of significance in comparing disease organisms across the planet. So, why not devise an open source smartphone app that allows the user in the field to enter relevent information directly into the phone, where it is automatically geo-tagged by the phone’s on-board GPS? Then, when there is a strong mobile data signal, the information on phone will synch directly back to the main database back in the lab. Indeed, why not?

We’ve also got an in-depth look at the present and future of the electric car. You can read more about the latest in electric car technology here and here. And here and here.

And we end with an interesting little cross-atlantic look at how politicians are using Twitter. You can check out Jennifer Golbeck’s research here.

We happen to be on Twitter ourselves, along with Facebook and FriendFeed.

This week’s musical guest: The 5th Dimension with “Up, Up and Away in My Beautiful Balloon.”