Prof. Gerald Steinberg

Bar Ilan University

Bio

Professor Emeritus, Bar Ilan University, and founder of NGO Monitor. Research topics: Middle East diplomacy and security; politics of human rights and NGOs; sources of post-Holocaust antisemitism. Recent publications: “The Durban Strategy: Twenty-Five Years of Demonization;” “The Palestinization of Human Rights: Al-Haq and HRW as Templates“, (Journal of the Middle East and Africa); Menachem Begin and the Israel-Egypt Peace Process: Between Ideology and Political Realism (Indiana Univ Press).

International law as political advocacy - NGOs and the 2026 Iran conflict as a case study

Abstract

Condemnations of US and Israeli strikes against Iran emphasized accusations of international law violations. Influential NGOs and related academics presented selective and largely unsupported claims that these actions violated the UN Charter, that Iran did not pose an imminent threat, and that civilian casualties and infrastructure damage were disproportionate and not justified by military necessity. This case study extends previous research on the political and ideology deployment of international law.