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Source: https://doi.org/10.1080/13537121.2021.1864847
Human Rights Watch's Anti-Israel Agenda
(Israel Affairs) Gerald M. Steinberg - Human Rights Watch (HRW) was founded as Helsinki Watch by the late Robert Bernstein in 1978, and has grown to become one of the most influential international NGOs active in this arena. However, the organization and its leaders have been strongly criticized, including by its own founder, Bernstein, for acting against its original mission, and for deep-seated political and ideological bias. The influence of HRW is reflected in its intense involvement in the UN and the International Criminal Court. Its Israel-focused activities are fundamentally different from its role on other topics and countries on HRW's agenda, and contrast strongly with norms of universality and political neutrality. The writer, a fellow of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, is president of NGO Monitor and professor emeritus of political studies at Bar-Ilan University.