For more than 20 years, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), some with links to terror groups, have engaged in a long-term BDS (Boycotts, Divestment, and Sanctions) campaign against security assistance to Israel. Their targets include military funding to Israel, Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile defense system, and other defensive systems.

In the aftermath of the barbaric Hamas massacre of October 7 and attacks by Iran and its terror  proxies (Hezbollah, Houthis, the IRGC Quds Force, Iraqi Shi’ite militias) on Israel, rather than use law and international justice frameworks to support the victims of the atrocities, political advocacy NGOs have only intensified this lobbying. The NGO network initiated lawsuits and called on governments around the world to impose a full arms and fuel embargo on Israel and halt military assistance.

The majority of these campaigns have ignored the blatant Palestinian, Iranian, and Iranian-sponsored violations against Israeli civilians and the constant firing of UAVs, rockets, and missiles at Israeli population centers from Gaza, Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq, and Syria. The NGOs also neglect the massive flow of offensive weapons and explosives, including drones and ballistic missiles, from Iran and Syria into Gaza, Lebanon, Yemen, Syria, Jordan, and Iraq. These groups also ignore the state sponsorship of Hamas by Qatar and Turkey that also buy billions of dollars in weapons from countries where they are seeking embargoes against Israel. 

International NGOs

Human Rights Watch (HRW)

Amnesty International

  • In June 2024, Amnesty was granted permission by the UK High Court to intervene in an “ongoing legal challenge by Al-Haq and the Global Legal Action Network (GLAN) to the UK’s transfer of arms to Israel.” (See below for further information on this lawsuit.)
  • In May 2024, Amnesty held a “Global Day of Action” to demand states “to stop the transfer of weapons, parts and ammunitions being used to fuel violations of international law in the occupied Gaza Strip.”
  • In April 2024, 11 French NGOs, including Amnesty International France, filed three separate legal actions at the administrative court “to obtain the suspension of export licenses for war materiel in categories ML5 (fire control equipment) and ML15 (imaging equipment) destined for the State of Israel. 
    • On April 13, the administrative court rejected the case. 
  • In March 2024, Amnesty International Denmark, Oxfam Denmark, ActionAid Denmark, and Al-Haq announced they were suing the Danish National Police and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in an attempt to stop Danish arms exports to Israel. 
  • In November 2023, Amnesty, alongside Oxfam Novib, PAX, and the Rights Forum, announced they were suing the Netherlands for “continuing to export arms to Israel.” The lawsuit demanded “the immediate cessation of the supply of parts for Israeli F35 fighter planes.” 
    • On February 12, 2024, the Dutch Court of Appeal ruled that the Netherlands must cease transfer of US-owned F-35 fighter jet components to Israel. 
    • In May 2024, the NGOs started summary proceedings against the Netherlands, claiming the “state did not correctly implement the previous ruling by not stopping all export and transit of F-35 components with a possible final destination of Israel.” In July 2024, the judge rejected the case, claiming that “it was unclear whether the earlier ruling only covered direct deliveries from the Netherlands or also deliveries via other countries, such as the United States. This ruling means that deliveries via the United States will not be stopped.”
    • On September 6, 2024, the Supreme Court held a hearing to assess whether the Court’s ruling will stand and whether the Netherlands may resume the export of F-35 components to Israel.
  • In October 2023, Amnesty called for “a comprehensive arms embargo” against Israel.

International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)

  • In June 2024, FIDH published a report titled, “The companies arming Israel and their financiers, focusing on “the relationships between European financial institutions and companies supplying arms to Israel.” According to FIDH, “By selling arms to Israel, arms companies run a high risk of facilitating ongoing severe violations of international humanitarian law…The unprecedented attacks on Gaza since 7 October 2023 and the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) provisional measures order of 26 January 2024 determining there is a plausible risk of genocide in Gaza make it even more urgent for arms companies to stop their supplies to Israel and for financial institutions to stop financing companies that continue to supply arms to Israel.”
  • In May 2024, FIDH published a statement that “Member states must go beyond timid condemnations and implement concrete measures, such as economic and diplomatic sanctions and an arms embargo against Israel.”
  • In November 2023, FIDH passed  a resolution headlined, “Israel’s unfolding crime of genocide and other crimes in Gaza and against the Palestinian People.” The resolution called for “States to apply and impose economic sanctions, arms embargo, and other countermeasures until Israel adheres to its obligations under international law and stops all acts of genocide.”

Oxfam

  • In June 2024, Oxfam was granted permission by the UK High Court to intervene in an “ongoing legal challenge by Al-Haq and the Global Legal Action Network (GLAN) to the UK’s transfer of arms to Israel.” (See below for further information on this lawsuit.)
  • In March 2024, Oxfam Denmark, Amnesty International Denmark, ActionAid Denmark, and Al-Haq announced they were suing the Danish National Police and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in an attempt to stop Danish arms exports to Israel. 
  • In March 2024, Oxfam published a report calling for countries to “take all diplomatic, economic and political actions or measures within the state’s power to prevent genocide in Gaza, including by appealing to the UN Security Council” and “discontinuing any military assistance, including arms sales, that would enable or facilitate genocide, and other crimes under international law.”
  • In March 2024, Oxfam and HRW submitted a memorandum to the Biden Administration’s NSM-20 Process claiming a “suspension of arms transfers to Israel is necessary so long as there is an overriding risk that they are being used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law, and US law and policy.” (Read NGO Monitor’s report “Analysis of the Human Rights Watch/Oxfam Allegations of “Israeli Forces’ Conduct in Gaza.”)
  • In December 2023, Oxfam Policy Lead Bushra Khalidi was a panelist at a press briefing calling to “take UK government to High Court over arms exports to Israel.”
  • In November 2023, Oxfam Novib, alongside Amnesty, PAX, and the Rights Forum, announced they were suing the Netherlands for “continuing to export arms to Israel.” The lawsuit demanded “the immediate cessation of the supply of parts for Israeli F35 fighter planes.” 
    • On February 12, 2024, the Dutch Court of Appeal ruled that the Netherlands must cease transfer of US-owned F-35 fighter jet components to Israel. 
    • In May 2024, the NGOs started summary proceedings against the Netherlands, claiming the “state did not correctly implement the previous ruling by not stopping all export and transit of F-35 components with a possible final destination of Israel.” In July 2024, the judge rejected the case, claiming that “it was unclear whether the earlier ruling only covered direct deliveries from the Netherlands or also deliveries via other countries, such as the United States. This ruling means that deliveries via the United States will not be stopped.”
    • On September 6, 2024, the Supreme Court held a hearing to assess whether the Court’s ruling will stand and whether the Netherlands may resume the export of F-35 components to Israel.

Palestinian NGOs

Al-Haq

  • In June 2024, Al Haq Europe and SOMO commissioned a legal opinion to “examine the legal consequences of the ICJ’s order for Third States and corporations.” The opinion recommends implementing an “arms embargo, ceasing the sale, transfer and diversion of arms, munitions, parts and other military equipment to Israel and refrain from the export, sale or transfer of jet fuel, surveillance and technologies and less-lethal weapons, including ‘dual-use’ items where there is reason to suspect their use in the commission of genocide.”
  • In April 2024, Al-Haq supported a lawsuit filed by the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) at the Administrative Court of Berlin against the German government for exporting weapons to Israel for use in Gaza. 
    • In June 2024, the Administrative Court in Berlin rejected the case on the grounds that the plaintiffs in the various cases “had not made it credible that decisions on arms exports were actually pending and that the Federal Government would fail to recognize the legal framework to be observed in future arms exports to Israel.”
  • In March 2024, Al-Haq, Oxfam Denmark, Amnesty International Denmark, and ActionAid Denmark announced they were suing the Danish National Police and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in an attempt to stop Danish arms exports to Israel. 
  • In November 2023, Al-Haq was a signatory on a statement urging states to issue a “Two-Way Arms Embargo on Israel,” demanding that “The US, the UK, Germany, Canada, Italy, the Netherlands and other States that authorise the continued transfer of arms, and other forms of military support to Israel to immediately bring an end to such transfers…and immediately halt the provision of any materiel, equipment or other commodity that may foreseeably be used in the commission of serious international law violations including international crimes.” 
  • In November 2023, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) filed a lawsuit on behalf of Al-Haq and Defense for Children International – Palestine (DCI-P), alleging that Israel’s “mass killings,” “widespread and systematic attacks on infrastructure,” and “forced expulsion” amount to “genocide.” The lawsuit urged the court to “issue injunctive relief enjoining Defendants from aiding, abetting, enabling or facilitating Israel’s commission of genocidal acts against the Palestinian people of Gaza, including but not limited to: Enjoin Defendants from providing, facilitating, or coordinating military assistance or financing to Israel; from initiating, acting upon, continuing, expediting, or completing sales, transfers, or delivery of weapons and arms to Israel; and from proving military equipment and personnel, advancing Israel’s commission of genocidal acts.”
    • In January 2024, the Court dismissed the case. The NGOs appealed the decision and filed a brief in March 2024. In July 2024, a three-judge panel affirmed the dismissal. In August 2024, the NGOs filed a petition for rehearing en banc, claiming that the courts “have a constitutional duty to assess the legality of the Biden administration’s actions.”
  • In October 2023, Al-Haq and the Global Legal Action Network (GLAN) sent a letter to UK Secretary of State for International Trade, Kemi Badenoch, demanding that the UK “suspend all weapons export licences to Israel.” After the government refused to enact an arms embargo, Al-Haq and GLAN filed a legal action with the UK High Court, on December 6,  attempting to force a “halt [in] UK weapons sales to Israel over illegal attacks on civilians who are trapped and under siege in Gaza.”
    • In February 2024, the UK High Court dismissed the case as there was a “high hurdle” to establish that the UK had been irrational in its decision-making, and there was “no realistic prospect of that hurdle being surmounted.” The NGOs appealed the decision, and in April, a High Court judge granted a judicial review hearing for November 2024.

Al Mezan

  • In April 2024, Al Mezan supported a lawsuit filed by the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) at the Administrative Court of Berlin against the German government for exporting weapons to Israel for use in Gaza. 
    • In June 2024, the Administrative Court in Berlin rejected the case on the grounds that the plaintiffs in the various cases “had not made it credible that decisions on arms exports were actually pending and that the Federal Government would fail to recognize the legal framework to be observed in future arms exports to Israel.”
  • In November 2023, Al Mezan was a signatory on a statement calling for states to “take all available measures to avoid complicity in Israeli conduct through the provision of materials, arms, economic and diplomatic support to a regime responsible for ongoing and persistent widespread and systematic violence and abuse of the Palestinian population amounting to genocide.” The statement also called to “apply and impose economic sanctions, arms embargo, and other countermeasures until Israel adheres to its obligations under international law.”
  • In November 2023, Al Mezan was a signatory on a statement urging states to issue a “Two-Way Arms Embargo on Israel,” demanding that “The US, the UK, Germany, Canada, Italy, the Netherlands and other States that authorise the continued transfer of arms, and other forms of military support to Israel to immediately bring an end to such transfers…and immediately halt the provision of any materiel, equipment or other commodity that may foreseeably be used in the commission of serious international law violations including international crimes.” 

Defense for Children International – Palestine (DCI-P)

  • In July 2024, DCI-P was a signatory on a letter to US President Biden to “implement an immediate arms embargo on the Israeli government.”
  • In November 2023, DCI-P was a signatory on a statement calling to states to “take all available measures to avoid complicity in Israeli conduct through the provision of materials, arms, economic and diplomatic support to a regime responsible for ongoing and persistent widespread and systematic violence and abuse of the Palestinian population amounting to genocide.” DCI-P also called to “apply and impose economic sanctions, arms embargo, and other countermeasures until Israel adheres to its obligations under international law.”
  • In November 2023, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) filed a lawsuit on behalf of DCI-P and Al-Haq, alleging that Israel’s “mass killings,” “widespread and systematic attacks on infrastructure,” and “forced expulsion” amount to “genocide.” The lawsuit urged the court to “issue injunctive relief enjoining Defendants from aiding, abetting, enabling or facilitating Israel’s commission of genocidal acts against the Palestinian people of Gaza, including but not limited to: Enjoin Defendants from providing, facilitating, or coordinating military assistance or financing to Israel; from initiating, acting upon, continuing, expediting, or completing sales, transfers, or delivery of weapons and arms to Israel; and from proving military equipment and personnel, advancing Israel’s commission of genocidal acts.”

US-Based NGOs

Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR)

  • In July 2024, CCR was a signatory on a letter to US President Biden to “implement an immediate arms embargo on the Israeli government.”
  • In November 2023, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) filed a lawsuit on behalf of DCI-P and Al-Haq, alleging that Israel’s “mass killings,” “widespread and systematic attacks on infrastructure,” and “forced expulsion” amount to “genocide.” The lawsuit urged the court to “issue injunctive relief enjoining Defendants from aiding, abetting, enabling or facilitating Israel’s commission of genocidal acts against the Palestinian people of Gaza, including but not limited to: Enjoin Defendants from providing, facilitating, or coordinating military assistance or financing to Israel; from initiating, acting upon, continuing, expediting, or completing sales, transfers, or delivery of weapons and arms to Israel; and from proving military equipment and personnel, advancing Israel’s commission of genocidal acts.”
    • In January 2024, the Court dismissed the case. The NGOs appealed the decision and filed a brief in March 2024. In July 2024, a three-judge panel affirmed the dismissal. In August 2024, the NGOs filed a petition for rehearing en banc, claiming that the courts “have a constitutional duty to assess the legality of the Biden administration’s actions.”

Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN)

  • In July 2024, DAWN was a signatory on a letter to US President Biden to “implement an immediate arms embargo on the Israeli government.”
  • In January 2024, DAWN published a statement calling for the US government to “suspend all U.S. military assistance to Israel to comply.”
  • In November 2023, DAWN was a signatory on a statement urging states to issue a “Two-Way Arms Embargo on Israel,” demanding that “The US, the UK, Germany, Canada, Italy, the Netherlands and other States that authorise the continued transfer of arms, and other forms of military support to Israel to immediately bring an end to such transfers…and immediately halt the provision of any materiel, equipment or other commodity that may foreseeably be used in the commission of serious international law violations including international crimes.” 

Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP)

  • In August 2024, JVP was a part of the NGO network that protested the Democratic National Convention, demanding that Democrats adopt anti-Israel policies. The central demand of the NGO coalition was to “End U.S. Aid to Israel…. We must stop our government from arming and supporting this genocide.”
  • In July 2024, JVP was a signatory on a letter to US President Biden to “implement an immediate arms embargo on the Israeli government.”
  • In July 2024, JVP held a sit-in in Congress calling on the US Congress to “Stop Arming the Israeli Military as it Wages Genocide in Gaza.”
  • JVP launched a petition titled “Tell Congress: ARMS EMBARGO NOW.” According tot he petition, “the Biden administration and Congress have facilitated this genocide by continuously sending weapons and funding to the Israeli military.”

National Lawyers Guild (NLG)

  • In August 2024, NLG was a part of the NGO network that protested the Democratic National Convention, demanding that Democrats adopt anti-Israel policies. The central demand of the NGO coalition was to “End U.S. Aid to Israel…. We must stop our government from arming and supporting this genocide.”
  • In January 2024, NLG published a statement “demand[ing] that U.S. officials and the U.S. government immediately end their complicity in this ongoing genocide by imposing sanctions and an arms embargo on the Israeli regime, rather than continuing to facilitate the genocide through arms sales, security coordination, technology transfers and vetoes in the United Nations Security Council.”
  • In November 2023, NLG was a signatory on a statement urging states to issue a “Two-Way Arms Embargo on Israel,” demanding that “The US, the UK, Germany, Canada, Italy, the Netherlands and other States that authorise the continued transfer of arms, and other forms of military support to Israel to immediately bring an end to such transfers…and immediately halt the provision of any materiel, equipment or other commodity that may foreseeably be used in the commission of serious international law violations including international crimes.” 

US Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR)

  • In August 2024, USCPR was a part of the NGO network that protested the Democratic National Convention, demanding that Democrats adopt anti-Israel policies. The central demand of the NGO coalition was to “End U.S. Aid to Israel…. We must stop our government from arming and supporting this genocide.”
  • In April 2024, USCPR launched a petition calling on Congress to issue an “IMMEDIATE arms embargo and an end to U.S. military funding to Israel.”
  • In November 2023, USCPR created the “Stop Gaza Toolkit,”  which included an interactive map detailing “How much of your community’s tax dollars fund genocide.” According to USCPR, “Every year, the U.S. government writes Israel a blank check for at least $3.8 billion. With your federal U.S. tax dollars, the Israeli military is bombing Gaza and wiping out entire Palestinian families right now.”
  • In October 2023, in the aftermath of the brutal Hamas atrocities, USCPR published a statement claiming, “The clock did not start on Saturday…The root cause of recent violence is clear: It is Israel’s 75+ years of ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people and theft of native Palestinian land. In order to address it, Congress must end the $3.8 billion/year in U.S. military funding to Israel, which has been actively fueling the Israeli military’s massive violence for decades” (emphasis in original).

European NGOs

Lawyers for Palestinian Human Rights (LPHR)

  • In April 2024, LPHR was a signatory on an open call to all UN Member States to “immediately halt the transfer of weapons, parts, and ammunition to Israel and Palestinian armed groups while there is risk they are used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international humanitarian or human rights law.” 
  • In February 2024, LPHR was a signatory on a letter to the UK Prime Minister calling to “Suspend all arms export licenses and any other forms of military support with immediate effect.”

Rights Forum

  • In April 2024, the Rights Forum was a signatory on an open call to all UN Member States to “immediately halt the transfer of weapons, parts, and ammunition to Israel and Palestinian armed groups while there is risk they are used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international humanitarian or human rights law.” 
  • In January 2024, the Rights Forum signed an open call to UN Member States calling to “immediately halt the transfer of weapons, parts, and ammunition.”
  • In November 2023, the Rights Forum, alongside Oxfam Novib, PAX, and Amnesty, announced they were suing the Netherlands for “continuing to export arms to Israel.” The lawsuit demanded “the immediate cessation of the supply of parts for Israeli F35 fighter planes.” 
  • In November 2023, the Rights Forum was a signatory on a statement urging states to issue a “Two-Way Arms Embargo on Israel,” demanding that “The US, the UK, Germany, Canada, Italy, the Netherlands and other States that authorise the continued transfer of arms, and other forms of military support to Israel to immediately bring an end to such transfers…and immediately halt the provision of any materiel, equipment or other commodity that may foreseeably be used in the commission of serious international law violations including international crimes.” 

SOMO (Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations)

  • In June 2024, SOMO and Al Haq Europe commissioned a legal opinion to “examine the legal consequences of the ICJ’s order for Third States and corporations.” The opinion recommends implementing an “arms embargo, ceasing the sale, transfer and diversion of arms, munitions, parts and other military equipment to Israel and refrain from the export, sale or transfer of jet fuel, surveillance and technologies and less-lethal weapons, including ‘dual-use’ items where there is reason to suspect their use in the commission of genocide.”
  • In May 2024, SOMO published a legal briefing “Exploring the legal consequences for states and corporations involved in supplying jet fuel to the Israeli military.” According to SOMO, “States should act to stop the transfer of such supplies to Israel, and an embargo on jet fuel and crude oil is an important means of achieving this.”
  • In April 2024, SOMO published a brief “examin[ing] the legal consequences of this order for companies and third states, with regard to businesses domiciled in their territory and to their own trade and economic relations.” The brief called on third states to “Impose an arms embargo on Israel,” “Impose a fuel embargo on Israel,” “Partially or wholly suspend existing trade or economic association agreements, as well as government-sponsored trade missions with Israel where lawful,” and “Cease procurement from or investment of public funds in Israeli or other firms implicated in Israel’s current military operations in Gaza, plausibly constituting genocide.” 

War on Want

  • In April 2024, War on Want was a signatory on an open call to all UN Member States to “immediately halt the transfer of weapons, parts, and ammunition to Israel and Palestinian armed groups while there is risk they are used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international humanitarian or human rights law.” 
  • In January 2024, War on Want signed an open call to UN Member States calling to “immediately halt the transfer of weapons, parts, and ammunition.”
  • In December 2023, War on Want sent a letter to the UK government calling for “an Immediate Halt to UK Arms Transfers to the Government of Israel.”