NGOs exploited Gaza suffering to raise funds

(TIMES OF ISRAEL) International humanitarian and human rights groups neglected antisemitism complaints from staffers, exploited suffering in Gaza for fundraising and sought to shape an anti-Israel narrative around the Gaza war, according to a report released earlier this month.

The 63-page report by the new advocacy group EiGHT called for significant changes to the non-governmental organisation (NGO) system, arguing that the sector has vast influence but little external oversight.

“They themselves call for transparency and accountability and speak out on behalf of people’s freedoms of expression,” Israeli Danielle Haas, one of EiGHT’s lead organisers, told The Times of Israel. “We consider this to be entirely in line with their own mandate and principles.”

Haas was a senior editor at Human Rights Watch for 14 years, left after the start of the Gaza war, and has been a critic of the NGO sector since.

Haas wrote in Jewish journal Sapir in 2024 about her experience at Human Rights Watch. After the article came out, other Jewish and non-Jewish NGO staffers contacted her to report similar experiences, forming an informal group of around 70 that coalesced into EiGHT, which is in the process of acquiring nonprofit status in Geneva, Haas said.