NGO Monitor facts for kids
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| Founded | 2001 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Gerald M. Steinberg |
| Type | Non-profit NGO |
| Focus | End promotion of "politically and ideologically motivated anti-Israel agendas" by certain NGOs. |
| Location |
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Area served
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Israel |
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Key people
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Gerald M. Steinberg (President); Naftali Balanson, Managing Editor; Anne Herzberg, Legal Advisor |
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Revenue
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US$ 385,000 (2008) |
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Employees
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13 (November 2010) |
| Website | ngo-monitor.org |
NGO Monitor is a group based in Jerusalem, Israel. It is a non-governmental organization (NGO), which means it's a non-profit group not run by a government. NGO Monitor watches and reports on the activities of other international NGOs, especially those that talk about Israel. Their goal is to make sure these groups don't use the idea of "human rights" to push their own political ideas against Israel.
The organization was started in 2001 by Gerald M. Steinberg. At first, it was part of another group, but in 2007, it became its own independent organization.
Some people, like professors, diplomats, and journalists, have criticized NGO Monitor. They say the group's research is sometimes influenced by politics. They also say it doesn't look at groups that support right-wing views.
The leader of NGO Monitor, Gerald M. Steinberg, has also worked for the Israeli Foreign Ministry and the Prime Minister's Office.
Contents
Who Works at NGO Monitor?
NGO Monitor is the main project of the Organization for NGO Responsibility. This is an independent non-profit group registered in Israel.
Its president is Gerald M. Steinberg. He is a retired professor of Political Science from Bar-Ilan University.
The staff at NGO Monitor includes:
- Gerald M. Steinberg, president
- Naftali Balanson, managing editor
- Anne Herzberg, legal advisor
- Dov Yarden, chief executive officer
- Arnie Draiman, online communications
In 2015, some well-known people were part of NGO Monitor's advisory council. These included Elliott Abrams, Alan Dershowitz, and Douglas Murray.
How NGO Monitor Gets Money
NGO Monitor says it gets its money from private donors and foundations. It does not receive money from governments. However, in 2010 and 2011, it did get some funds through The Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI), which is a group that works closely with the government.
One of the first groups to donate to NGO Monitor was the Wechsler Family Foundation. Other known supporters include Nina Rosenwald.
In 2010, the organization received a large grant of $500,000 from a group called REPORT. This group used to be known as American Friends of NGO Monitor.
Some reports have said that NGO Monitor is not always clear about where all its money comes from. For example, a report from 2015 by Peace Now said that NGO Monitor did not share all the required information about its funding sources.
What NGO Monitor Does
Checking Legal Issues
NGO Monitor often looks into how other non-profit groups are funded. They also check if these groups follow certain laws.
For example, in 2010, Gerald Steinberg took a case to the European Court of Justice. He wanted to get more information about how the European Commission was funding Israeli and Palestinian NGOs. In 2012, the court decided that NGO Monitor could not receive all the financial documents it asked for. The court said that sharing this information might put human rights groups in danger.
In 2013, NGO Monitor wrote a report about a new Israeli law. This law requires Israeli non-governmental organizations to share how much money they get from foreign donors and governments. NGO Monitor said this law helps with "transparency," meaning it makes things clearer and more open.
However, some other groups, like the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), said their donor information was already public. They also said that foreign donations help them protect human rights.
Criticizing Other NGOs
NGO Monitor has criticized several other non-profit groups.
They criticized the Ford Foundation for giving money to a conference in South Africa in 2001. This conference was about racism. The Ford Foundation later changed some of its rules about funding NGOs.
NGO Monitor has also criticized groups like B'Tselem and the New Israel Fund. B'Tselem is an Israeli human rights group. The New Israel Fund aims to make Israel's democracy stronger.
In 2006, NGO Monitor held a meeting in Jerusalem to talk about the role of NGOs in the Middle East conflict. They invited groups like Amnesty International to speak, but some declined. Amnesty International said the meeting was not balanced.
Editing Wikipedia
An editor who worked for NGO Monitor, Arnie Draiman, was stopped from editing Wikipedia articles about the Israeli-Arab conflict. This happened because he was accused of editing in a biased way. He also used a second account, which is against Wikipedia rules. He had made many edits to articles about human rights organizations that NGO Monitor often criticizes.
What People Say About NGO Monitor
Many people have different opinions about NGO Monitor.
In 2010, NGO Monitor tried to stop a Dutch group from funding The Electronic Intifada. NGO Monitor said that this website was "anti-Semitic" and compared Israeli policies to those of the Nazi regime. However, the Dutch group said that Electronic Intifada was an important source of information from Palestinian areas. They said it reported on human rights issues and was not anti-Israel or anti-Semitic.
Some journalists and professors have said that NGO Monitor is very supportive of Israel. They say it rarely criticizes Israel and focuses on groups that criticize Israeli policies. For example, one writer called NGO Monitor a "rabidly partisan organization" that attacks almost anyone who criticizes Israel.
A former spokesperson for the Peace Now group said that NGO Monitor is not an objective watchdog. They called it a "partisan operation" that tries to silence groups it disagrees with.
Some critics also say that NGO Monitor itself is not always transparent about its own political views. They argue that it might have its own "narrow political and ideological preferences."
Associated Press and NGO Monitor
A former reporter for the Associated Press (AP), Matti Friedman, said that the AP office in Jerusalem told reporters not to quote NGO Monitor or its director, Gerald Steinberg. Friedman said that Steinberg was the only person he saw banned from being quoted.
The AP responded by saying there was no "ban" on using Professor Gerald Steinberg. They said he and his group were quoted in several stories.
Some people who looked at this situation believe that while there might not have been a written ban, there was a clear bias. They think the AP might have chosen not to cover certain topics or use certain sources.
See also
- Criticism of Amnesty International
- Criticism of Human Rights Watch
- NGOWatch
- Palestinian NGOs Network
