Press Release:
NGO Monitor to Receive 2013 Begin Prize at Ceremony Tomorrow
Jerusalem – Tomorrow, December 4, 2013, NGO Monitor will be awarded the prestigious Begin Prize, “For the organization’s efforts exposing the political agenda and ideological bias of humanitarian organizations that use the discourse of human rights to discredit Israel and to undermine its position among the nations of the world.”
Founded in 2002 by Professor Gerald Steinberg and the Wechsler Family Foundation, NGO Monitor is an independent research institute based in Jerusalem and the primary source of expertise on activities and funding of political non-governmental organizations (NGOs) involved in the Arab-Israeli conflict. NGO Monitor was nominated by 2010 Begin Prize recipient Prof. Alan Dershowitz and Jewish Agency head Natan Sharansky, among others.
“NGO Monitor humbly appreciates the recognition by the Begin Heritage Center for our contributions and years of hard work,” stated Prof. Gerald Steinberg, president of NGO Monitor. “Menachem Begin fought against the moral hypocrisy that denied the Jewish nation the same rights granted to others, including self-defense and sovereign equality in our homeland. In this spirit, NGO Monitor was founded to expose and end the double standards among powerful organizations that exploit the banners of human rights and democracy.”
In his letter to the award committee, Dershowitz wrote that “NGO Monitor has become one of the leading organizations devoted to correcting the deliberate falsehoods that have become routine in the systematic effort to delegitimate Israel.”
Reflecting the skills of NGO Monitor’s highly professional investigative team, systematic and fully documented reports have been presented in the Knesset, the US Congress, and the Parliaments of the UK, Ireland, Spain and European Union, and are widely cited. These reports focus on a wide range of NGO-related issues, including European Funding for Political NGOs Active in the Arab-Israeli Conflict, NGO Lawfare, BDS campaigns on campuses and via churches, NGO Malpractice -The Political Abuse of Medicine, Ethics, and Science, and NGOs and the Negev Bedouin Conflict in the Context of Political Warfare. In addition, the publication of Best Practices for Human Rights and Humanitarian NGO Fact-Finding (Martinus Nijhoff, 2012) has had global impact.
“NGO Monitor’s research has dramatically changed the perception of political NGOs, leading to demands for accountability, transparency and credibility, while groups that exploit moral principles have been ‘named and shamed,'” continued Steinberg. “Based on these reports, responsible funders – both governmental and from the private sector – have changed policies and in many cases, halted major grants that had been provided to NGOs that violated moral principles by demonizing Israel.”
The Menachem Begin Prize Ceremony will take place on Wednesday, December 4th, at the Menachem Begin Heritage Center in Jerusalem. Reception at 18:30; award ceremony at 19:00.
Begin Center Prize Website