View source for Gerald M. Steinberg

{{short description|Israeli political scientists and advocate}}
{{For|the former UK Labour Party politician|Gerry Steinberg}}
{{pp-30-500|small=yes}}

[[File:Gerald steinberg.JPG|thumb|upright|Gerald Steinberg]]

'''Gerald M. Steinberg''', a professor of politics at [[Bar Ilan University]], is an Israeli academic, political scientist, and political activist. He is founder and president of [[NGO Monitor]], a policy analysis think tank focusing on non-governmental organizations.

==Biography==

Gerald Steinberg was born in the United Kingdom.<ref name=Friedman >{{cite news|last1=Friedman|first1=Matti|title=What the Media Gets Wrong About Israel|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/11/how-the-media-makes-the-israel-story/383262/3/|access-date=10 December 2014|publisher=The Atlantic|date=30 November 2014}}</ref> He completed a joint bachelor's degree in physics and Near Eastern Studies at the [[University of California, Berkeley]], in 1973 and a master's degree in physics at the [[University of California, San Diego]], in 1975. He obtained his doctorate in government from [[Cornell University]] in 1981.<ref name="geraldsteinberg.com">[http://archive.geraldsteinberg.com/gerald_steinberg_cv.pdf Professor Gerald Steinberg Academic cv]</ref> He began teaching at [[Bar Ilan University]] in 1982, and is a professor of [[political science]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://politics.biu.ac.il/en/node/692 |title=Prof. Gerald Steinberg |publisher=Bar-Ilan University}}</ref><ref name="geraldsteinberg.com" />

Steinberg has served as a consultant to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs and to the Israeli National Security Council.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Steinberg|first1=Gerald|title=NGOs, the UN, and the Politics of Human Rights|journal=Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs|date=2011|volume=5|issue=1|page=73|doi=10.1080/23739770.2011.11446444|s2cid=151522839}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cfr.org/interview/steinberg-israel-sees-diplomatic-proposals-baker-hamilton-report-rerun-failed-policies|title=Steinberg: Israel Sees Diplomatic Proposals in Baker-Hamilton Report a Rerun of 'Failed' Policies of Past|website=Council on Foreign Relations|language=en|access-date=2019-06-19}}</ref> He also served as a legislative adviser to Likud Knesset Member [[Ze'ev Elkin]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Chazan|first=Naomi|title=Israel in the World: Legitimacy and Exceptionalism|year=2012|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0415624152|pages=94|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VXkerb_JH2UC&q=NGO+monitor+right+wing&pg=PA94}}</ref>

==NGO Monitor==

Steinberg is founder and president of [[NGO Monitor]], a [[right-wing]] [[non-governmental organization]] based in [[Jerusalem]] that reports on international NGO activity from a pro-Israel perspective.<ref>{{cite web|first1=Yossi|last1=Gurvitz|accessdate=2024-02-03|title=What is NGO Monitor’s connection to the Israeli government?|url=https://www.972mag.com/what-is-ngo-monitors-connection-to-the-israeli-government/|date=29 April 2014|website=+972 Magazine}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last1=Rubin | first1=A. | last2=Sarfati | first2=Y. | last3=Akman | first3=C.A. | last4=Erdeniz | first4=G. | last5=Fishman | first5=L. | last6=Golan-Nadir | first6=N. | last7=Michaeli | first7=I. | last8=Tepe | first8=S. | title=The Jarring Road to Democratic Inclusion: A Comparative Assessment of State–Society Engagements in Israel and Turkey | publisher=Lexington Books | year=2016 | isbn=978-1-4985-2508-4 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LTTVDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA6 | page=6|access-date=2021-12-10|quote=Right-wing organizations Im Tirzu and NGO Monitor ...}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last=Stetter | first=Stephan | title=The Middle East and Globalization: Encounters and Horizons | publisher=Palgrave Macmillan US | year=2012 | isbn=978-1-137-03176-1 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xt7YAZOioLQC&pg=PA206 | access-date=2021-12-10|quote=Transnational NGOs usually do not become a conflict party and are less likely to be associated with one of the conflict parties-although, to pick but two examples, as the campaign of the right-wing NGO Monitor in Israel against the involvement of "external actors"|page=206}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last=Khalidi | first=Rashid | title=Brokers of Deceit: How the U.S. Has Undermined Peace in the Middle East | publisher=Beacon Press | year=2013 | isbn=978-0-8070-4476-6 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LHYPnxwPnlwC&pg=RA1-PT127 | access-date=2021-12-10|quote=Several other right-wing Israeli NGOs follow the same approach, including NGO Monitor}}</ref><ref name="jta.org">{{cite web |url=http://www.jta.org/2007/08/31/news-opinion/haaretz-columnist-dropped-by-british-zionists |title=Ha'aretz columnist dropped by British Zionists | publisher=[[Jewish Telegraphic Agency|JTA]] |date=31 August 2007}}</ref>

Steinberg has been a longtime critic of [[Human Rights Watch]], [[Amnesty International]], [[Christian Aid]], [[Oxfam]], and other organizations he says have "contributed to the hatred, rather than supporting peace".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ngo-monitor.org/editions/v3n05/HumanRightsGroupsWorkingAgainstPeace.htm |title=Human Rights Groups are Working Against Peace |author=Gerald Steinberg |date=January 13, 2005 |publisher=NGO Monitor |quote=With their multi-million-dollar budgets, global superpowers such as Human Rights Watch (HRW), Amnesty International, Christian Aid, Oxfam and dozens of smaller allied groups have contributed to the hatred, rather than supporting peace. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110610150240/http://www.ngo-monitor.org/editions/v3n05/HumanRightsGroupsWorkingAgainstPeace.htm |archive-date=2011-06-10 }}</ref> In a 2004 ''Jerusalem Post'' article<ref>{{cite web |author=Gerald Steinberg|url=http://faculty.biu.ac.il/~steing/conflict/oped/030804-1.html |date=March 8, 2004 |title=Israelis Have No "Human Rights" |publisher=NGO Monitor}}</ref> he wrote, "HRW's press statement exposes it as a biased political organization hiding behind the rhetoric of human rights." Later he accused HRW of "exploiting the rhetoric of human rights to delegitimize Israel".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://spme.net/cgi-bin/facultyforum.cgi?ID=1865 |author=Gerald Steinberg |title=Human Rights Watch can't take the heat |date=April 7, 2004 |publisher=Scholars for Peace in the Middle East |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723121549/http://spme.net/cgi-bin/facultyforum.cgi?ID=1865 |archive-date=2011-07-23 }}</ref> HRW accused Steinberg of "sleight of hand" in his reporting of its activities, and of ignoring its condemnations of Palestinian militant actions.<ref>{{cite web |author=Kenneth Roth |publisher=Human Rights Watch |url=https://www.hrw.org/en/news/2004/03/31/truth-hurts |title=The Truth Hurts |date=April 2, 2004}}</ref>

In 2014, former [[Associated Press]] journalist [[Matti Friedman]] said that AP reporters had been banned from interviewing Steinberg and NGO Monitor.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2014/12/02/blacklisting-of-pro-israel-watchdog-organization-ngo-monitor-by-the-associated-press/|title=Blacklisting of pro-Israel watchdog organization NGO Monitor by the Associated Press|last=Bernstein|first=David|date=2014-12-02|newspaper=The Washington Post|language=en-US|issn=0190-8286|access-date=2016-03-15}}</ref> The AP denied the claim.<ref name=":0"/>

=== Court case ===
In January 2010, after the European Commission refused to release documents on NGO funding, Steinberg initiated legal action under the EU's Freedom of Information statutes. The court ruled that instability in the Middle East and the prospect that "such information may pose a danger to human rights groups" justified the refusal.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/eu-court-rejects-ngo-monitor-petition-to-release-details-on-israeli-rights-groups-1.489919 |title=EU court rejects NGO Monitor petition to release details on Israeli rights groups |author=Chaim Levinson |date=December 25, 2012 |publisher=Haaretz}}</ref> The court further found that Steinberg's petition was "manifestly lacking any foundation in law".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://972mag.com/eu-throws-out-ngo-monitor-case-tells-gerald-steinberg-to-pick-up-the-tab/62491/|title=EU throws out NGO Monitor case, tells Gerald Steinberg to pick up the tab|date=24 December 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jpost.com/International/ECJ-discards-Israeli-groups-NGO-funding-case|title=ECJ discards Israeli group's NGO funding case|work=The Jerusalem Post - JPost.com|date=25 December 2012 }}</ref>

Of Steinberg's failed legal action, Israeli attorney [[Michael Sfard]] said: "Steinberg invents demons and then chases them. On the way, he convinces the Europeans that the fears for the welfare of Israeli democracy are justified. All the data about the donations of foreign countries to Israeli human rights organizations are published on the Web sites of the organizations, as required by law."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.haaretz.com/eu-court-tosses-case-on-ngo-funds-1.5281552|title=EU Court Rejects NGO Monitor Petition to Release Details on Israeli Rights Groups|date=2012-12-25|work=Haaretz|access-date=2019-06-19|language=en}}</ref>

==Criticism==
Yehudit Karp, a former Israeli deputy attorney general, charged that Steinberg published material he knew to be wrong "along with some manipulative interpretation".<ref>{{cite web |author=Yehudit Karp |title=NGO Monitor and Adalah: The thinly veiled agenda |date=March 6, 2012 |url=http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-undisguised-agenda/ |publisher=Times of Israel}}</ref>

Reporter Uriel Heilman said that Steinberg played "fast and loose" with the facts by repeating comments about the New Israel Fund that Steinberg knew were untrue. In response, Steinberg acknowledged that some of his reports were poorly phrased and promised to correct them.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jta.org/2009/06/17/culture/playing-fast-and-loose-with-the-facts-at-ngo-monitor-updated|title=Playing fast and loose with the facts at NGO Monitor (UPDATED)|date=2009-06-18|website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency|language=en-US|access-date=2019-06-19}}</ref>

In ''The Jerusalem Post'', [[Kenneth Roth]] wrote that Steinberg shows a "disregard for basic facts" when writing about human rights.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Roth|first1=Kenneth|title=The Truth Hurts|publisher=Jerusalem Post|date=1 April 2004}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.ngo-monitor.org NGO Monitor home page]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Steinberg, Gerald M.}}
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Israeli political scientists]]
[[Category:Academic staff of Bar-Ilan University]]
[[Category:American Jews]]
[[Category:American emigrants to Israel]]
[[Category:Israeli Jews]]
[[Category:Cornell University alumni]]
[[Category:University of California, San Diego alumni]]
[[Category:University of California, Berkeley alumni]]
[[Category:Israeli columnists]]
[[Category:Bonei Zion Prize recipients]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]