Report finds NGOs rife with ‘hostile behaviour related to Jews, Israel’

The 63‐page report from EiGHT, a group founded by NGO insiders, alleges ‘systemic patterns of discrimination, bias, and accountability failure’

Some 70 former and current staff from household‐name humanitarian and rights groups have come forward in a new report, alleging widespread “hostile behaviour related to Jews, Israel, or Israelis” inside organizations that claim to defend human rights. Those surveyed say managers ignored, tolerated or normalized the conduct, while some staffers faced retaliation for speaking out. The 63‐page report, “Insiders Speak: NGO Antisemitism, Failed Accountability, and Their Impact on Social Cohesion,” alleges “systemic patterns of discrimination, bias, and accountability failure” across the sector.

Authored by EiGHT, an initiative founded by NGO insiders, it includes interviews with affected Jews and non‐Jews and is billed as “the first independent and extensive account” of its kind. “The tipping point was realizing this wasn’t a series of isolated failures in a few organizations affecting a handful of employees,” EiGHT’s executive director Danielle Haas told the Post. “It was a systemic breakdown of values and principles within global organizations that shape democratic life — with public trust as the real casualty — and the situation was only getting worse.”

Haas left Human Rights Watch in 2023 after about 14 years, raising concerns in an exit email about methodological failures and compromised standards. The report has been filed through official complaint mechanisms to five United Nations Special Rapporteurs — as well as to Australia’s Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion. Managers, staff and leaders in various NGOs indulged in public airing of “dehumanizing views toward Israel and Jews,” setting an institutional tone from the top.

The report cites Amnesty International, Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières/MSF), Greenpeace, Human Rights Watch, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Mercy Corps, Plan International, Save the Children and UNICEF. In response to queries from National Post, several of the cited NGOs said any form of discrimination was unacceptable and any allegations are taken seriously. The EiGHT report alleges that Doctors Without Borders’ internal Souk communication platform — accessible to some 67,000 staff and association members — featured posts such as “Stop playing the Jewish card.”

An Amnesty International Australia staffer publicly praised Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, calling him “Legend!!” online. Most of those interviewed withheld their names for fear of backlash and blacklisting, and across organizations growing numbers of Jewish professionals reported concealing aspects of their identity or leaving the sector altogether (according to cited independent studies from the Olam and Blue Compass surveys.)

One staffer described “soft ostracism, ghosting, quiet exclusion” rather than direct confrontation when they raised concerns, a pattern echoed throughout the report. “Global rights NGOs operate not only as investigators and advocates, but as strategic actors seeking to shape public narratives,” the study notes. According to a staffer at a global human rights NGO involved in Israel‐Palestine work, “That is how credibility dies: institutional certainty, slogan repetition, and refusal to self‐correct.

The reality is that many of these organizations now function less like watchdogs and more like unelected political parties — powerful actors inside left‐leaning public opinion but increasingly detached from rigorous standards and from the basic human rights principles they claim to defend.” In July 2024, a rocket killed 12 children in the Druze Israeli town of Majdal Shams; weapons analysts determined the projectile was an Iranian‐made Falaq‐1 rocket launched by Hezbollah from south Lebanon. According to Diane Richard, former press officer at Plan International France, her employer’s response exposed double standards: “The NGO wrote in a tweet that it was a ‘tragic’ event, without naming the