Prof. Gerald Steinberg is president of NGO Monitor, a Jerusalem-based research institute, and professor of Political Studies at Bar Ilan University. His research interests include international relations, Middle East diplomacy and security, the politics of human rights and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), Israeli politics and arms control.
NGO Monitor was founded following the 2001 UN World Conference Against Racism in Durban South Africa, where powerful NGOs, claiming to promote human rights, hijacked the principles of morality and international law. Funding for this infamous forum was provided by the EU, Canada and the US-based Ford Foundation.
In order to provide independent research with checks and balances, NGO Monitor provides information and analysis, promotes accountability, and supports discussion on the reports and activities of NGOs claiming to advance human rights and humanitarian agendas.
In 2013, Professor Steinberg and NGO Monitor were awarded the prestigious Menachem Begin Prize for: Efforts Exposing the Political Agenda and Ideological Basis of Humanitarian Organizations that Exploit the Discourse of Human Rights.
He works with a number of international organizations (NATO, UN University, OSCE, SIPRI); participates in track-two workshops and in the Inter-parliamentary Coalition for Combating Antisemitism ICCA; and is the founder of the Program on Conflict Management and Negotiation at Bar Ilan University.
Recent academic publications include “NGOs, Human Rights, and Political Warfare in the Arab-Israel Conflict”; “Europe's Failed Middle East Policies”; “The UN, the ICJ and the Separation Barrier: War by Other Means” (Israel Law Review); and Best Practices for Human Rights and Humanitarian NGOs, (co-author), Nijhoff, Leiden, 2012. He is also completing research examining the credibility of human rights organizations during the 2006 Lebanon war, under the auspices of the Israel Science Foundation.
His op-ed columns have been published in Wall St. Journal (Europe), Financial Times, Ha’aretz, International Herald Tribune, Jerusalem Post, and other publications. He has appeared as a commentator on the BBC, CBC. CNN, and NPR.