Humanitarian aid is just a ruse

Last week, Israel Hayom revealed that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lashed out against the Norwegian foreign minister during her visit to his office, accusing her government of “meddling in Israel’s internal affairs” by funding anti-Israeli activity.

Not surprisingly, her defense was that the activity to which he was referring was nothing more than humanitarian work. The word “humanitarian”  evokes sympathy, and justifiably so. It is associated with helping those who were hurt by Mother Nature or by war.  But just as “human rights” causes are misused to advance political agendas, so too is “humanitarian assistance” misused sometimes to malign Israel.

Every year, the coffers of governmental organizations fill up with vast amounts of money designated for strategic objectives defined by each region’s humanitarian agenda for that year. For example, the plan for humanitarian assistance in Somalia is to “save lives and find mutli-facted means of reducing the high level of morbidity.” Saving lives is also the paramount goal in Yemen and Afghanistan.

In the Palestinian areas, the first goal is defined as “safeguarding the rights of the Palestinians living under occupation in accordance with international humanitarian law and international human rights law.”

But such definitions often obscure the well-oiled machine in which humanitarian aid is misued for political purposes – both by the countries funding the operations and by the NGOs themselves.

As a result, radical groups, some of them even tied to terrorist groups, get millions of dollars just so they can document alleged misconduct by Israeli troops against Palestinian children. The footage they take is used by those who are trying to have the Israel Defense Forces blacklisted by the United Nations, a campaign led by organizations that have ties to the Islamic State, al-Qaida, Boko Haram and others.

NGO Monitor released a report last week showing that under the guise of humanitarian relief, the U.K., the EU and Norway “provide millions of dollars annually to the Norwegian Refugee Council for massive and unprecedented political campaigns exploiting the Israeli legal system.” This effort is coordinated with the Palestinian Authority.

The report says the NRC is registered with an International Humanitarian Visa authorized by the Social Services Ministry. Foreign governments use it to advance their agenda, primarily in east Jerusalem and in Palestinian areas where Israel maintains full military and civilian control

According to those governments, Israel’s legal system violates international humanitarian law and has led to the displacement of thousands of Palestinians. As far as they are concerned, their legal meddling is warranted. The NRC says it has carried out its activity under a “low visibility policy,” and the governments behind it have refused to release details on what that means, citing “commercial interests” and “national security.”

But the documents we have obtained at NGO Monitor explain why they are trying to hide their activity. The documents show that the goal is to change Israeli policy and practices by “disrupting the Israeli judicial system” with “as many cases as possible” and advocating “measures to be taken by the U.N. and third states to deter the settlement enterprise hampering Palestinians’ access to livelihoods and leading to forcible transfer.”

This has led to hundreds of cases being added to the workload of the Israeli courts. Between 2009 and 2014, the NRC provided legal representation in 4,069 cases. The organization says that in 2018 it aims to pursue “5,399 opened and continuing cases for legal assistance.” Those legal  efforts are run as part of the NRC’s flagship program and are coordinated with lawyers from he Palestinian Authority.

Humanitarian assistance requires impartiality, a humane outlook, and neutrality. This is especially true in conflict zones. Flooding the Israeli legal system with thousands of cases whose only purpose is to promote a political agenda and change the policies of a sovereign nation – while collaborating with one of the parties to a conflict – is a clear violation of those very principles and runs contrary to international norms governing relations between democracies.

Humanitarian relief efforts should be about saving lives. But the humanitarian aid that is sent to the Palestinians is being used for political warfare against Israel and against the IDF.