Catholic Aid Societies Fund Anti-Israel Campaigns, NGO Watchdog Reveals

Using European resources, Catholic aid charities are funding anti-Israel political campaigns in Israel and the Palestinian-controlled territories. 

Catholic aid charities are funding non-governmental organizations (NGOs) operating in Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) that contribute to political campaigns undermining Israel’s legitimacy, NGO Monitor, a Jerusalem-based research institute, reports.

The watchdog’s detailed analysis demonstrates that between 2008 and 2014, more than €7.4 million (approximately $10.1 million) was allocated by Catholic aid charities to 37 highly politicized NGOs which work against “peace and heighten tensions, while demonizing and delegitimizing the State of Israel.”

These organizations participate in boycott, divest, and sanctions (BDS) campaigns to isolate Israel diplomatically, economically and culturally. BDS leaders have overtly called for Israel’s destruction.

“In the Arab-Israeli context, Catholic aid charities distribute funds to NGOs that enflame conflict, dehumanize Israelis, and delegitimize Israel,” stated Yitzhak Santis, NGO Monitor’s chief programs officer. “This funding is contrary to the powerful message sent by Pope Francis during his visit in May 2014 of the Vatican’s recognition of the right of the Jewish people to sovereign equality in a state of their own.”

Catholic aid charities receive a major proportion of their total annual operating budgets from various governments, particularly in Europe, NGO Monitor writes. These taxpayer funds are meant to be distributed by the Catholic aid societies to humanitarian NGOs around the world for purposes of alleviating human suffering and providing assistance to those in need.

Instead, Catholic aid organizations, such as Broederlijk Delen (Belgium), Trocaire (Ireland), and Misereor (Germany), fund radical Israeli NGOs. These organizations include Zochrot, Coalition of Women for Peace (CWP) and Breaking the Silence.

Zochrot supports a “one state” framework, or a “de-Zionized Palestine” and received 35% of its budget from these aid organizations between 2012 and 2015. CWP is a leader in the BDS campaign and its officials participated in an event in which they carried flags of the PFLP terrorist organization. Breaking the Silence is active in promoting war crimes charges against Israel based on anonymous and unverifiable hearsay “testimonies.”

Santis remarked, “Last week Pope Francis was quoted as saying that ‘anyone who does not recognize the Jewish people and the State of Israel – and their right to exist – is guilty of anti-Semitism.’ The Pope’s statement is fundamentally correct. NGO Monitor urges the Vatican to act on the Pope’s words by calling upon Catholic aid agencies to cease funding those NGOs that are working to delegitimize Israel and deny the Jewish people the right to sovereign equality.”

By: United with Israel Staff