Israel Company Bot: New page on the Who Profits research centre: history, methodology, publications, response to the UN database, register and funding records, and criticism, with sources

2026-10-22T11:30:43Z

New page on the Who Profits research centre: history, methodology, publications, response to the UN database, register and funding records, and criticism, with sources

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{{short description|'''Israeli research centre documenting corporate involvement in the Israeli occupation'''}}
{{Infobox organization
| name = Who Profits Research Center
| logo = Who Profits Research Center logo.png
| image_size = 250px
| caption = Logo of Who Profits Research Center
| type = Research centre; registered Israeli non-profit association (amuta)
| founded = {{Start date|2007}}
| founder = [[Coalition of Women for Peace]]
| registration_id = 580581411 ([[Israel Corporations Authority]], Registrar of Amutot)
| status = Registered
| headquarters = Derech HaAtzmaut 104, Haifa 3341103, Israel (register address)
| location = Israel
| area_served = Occupied Palestinian territory and occupied Syrian Golan
| services = Research on corporate involvement in the occupation; free online corporate database; information centre
| registration = Israel (amuta registered 3 December 2013)
| key_people = [[Dalit Baum]] (helped start the project; former coordinator); [[Merav Amir]] (former research coordinator)
| website = https://www.whoprofits.org/
| remarks = Described by [[NGO Monitor]] as "a leader in BDS efforts"<ref name="NGOMProfile">NGO Monitor, [https://ngo-monitor.org/ngos/who_profits/ Who Profits] ''NGO Monitor'', 22 July 2024, accessed 22 October 2026. Critical source.</ref>
}}
'''Who Profits''' ('''Who Profits Research Center'''; Hebrew: מי מרוויח) is an Israeli research centre that describes itself as "dedicated to exposing the commercial involvement of Israeli and international corporations in the ongoing Israeli occupation of Palestinian and Syrian land and population".<ref name="WPAbout">Who Profits, [https://www.whoprofits.org/sections/view/3?who-profits-research-center Who Profits Research Center: About] ''Who Profits Research Center'', accessed 22 October 2026. Who Profits-side source.</ref> It began in 2007 as a project of the [[Coalition of Women for Peace]] and became independent in 2013.<ref name="WPAbout" /> It is registered with the Israeli Registrar of Amutot as Who Profits (R.A.), amuta number 580581411.<ref name="AmutotReg">[[Ministry of Justice (Israel)|Israeli Ministry of Justice]], [https://data.gov.il/api/3/action/datastore_search?resource_id=be5b7935-3922-45d4-9638-08871b17ec95&q=580581411 Register of amutot: record 580581411, Who Profits (R.A.)] ''data.gov.il'', accessed 22 October 2026.</ref>

Its free online corporate database profiles hundreds of Israeli and international companies. It groups them under three headings: the economic exploitation of occupied land, labour and resources; the settlement enterprise; and population control.<ref name="WPAbout" /><ref name="WPInvolvement">Who Profits, [https://www.whoprofits.org/involvement/view?corporate-involvement Corporate Involvement] ''Who Profits Research Center'', accessed 22 October 2026. Who Profits-side source.</ref>

Who Profits welcomed the [[Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights]]'s 2020 database of businesses involved in [[Israeli settlements]] as "a positive yet partial step".<ref name="WP2020">Who Profits, [https://www.whoprofits.org/publications/report/148 UN Releases List of Companies Involved in the Israeli Occupation] ''Who Profits Research Center'', February 2020, accessed 22 October 2026. Who Profits-side source.</ref> [[NGO Monitor]] says the UN relied heavily on Who Profits when building that database, and criticises the group's research and funding.<ref name="NGOM2019">NGO Monitor, [https://ngo-monitor.org/reports/who-profits-foundation-for-the-un-bds-blacklist/ Who Profits: Foundation for the UN BDS Blacklist] ''NGO Monitor'', 24 January 2019, accessed 22 October 2026. Critical source.</ref>

== History ==
Who Profits says it was founded in 2007 as a project of the [[Coalition of Women for Peace]] (CWP) and became an independent research centre in 2013.<ref name="WPAbout" /> In a 2010 interview, research coordinator [[Merav Amir]] and project coordinator [[Dalit Baum]] said the project "came into being in 2006 as a political compromise" inside CWP over how to respond to the 2005 Palestinian call for [[Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions|boycott, divestment and sanctions]]. They said CWP's affiliated groups included [[Women in Black]], [[New Profile]], [[Bat Shalom]] and [[Machsom Watch]].<ref name="JFJFP2010">Jews for Justice for Palestinians, [https://jfjfp.com/jewish-peace-news-on-who-profits-from-the-occupation/ Jewish Peace News on Who Profits from the Occupation] ''JFJFP'', 13 July 2010, accessed 22 October 2026.</ref> In a profile published by [[Global Exchange]], Baum, who taught at Haifa University and Beit Berl College, said she had "helped start" and coordinated "an activist research initiative called Who Profits from the Occupation".<ref name="GlobalExchangeBaum">Global Exchange, [https://globalexchange.org/meet-dalit-baum-global-exchanges-new-economic-activism-for-palestine-director/ Meet Dalit Baum, Global Exchange's New Economic Activism for Palestine Director] ''Global Exchange'', accessed 22 October 2026.</ref>

According to [[NGO Monitor]], the project split from CWP in 2013 because it had grown and become more professional as a research centre, and because CWP had lost some donors. NGO Monitor says the two organisations continued to work together as "sister organizations".<ref name="NGOM2016">NGO Monitor, [https://ngo-monitor.org/reports/who-profits-spearheading-global-bds/ "Who Profits" – Spearheading Global BDS] ''NGO Monitor'', 15 April 2016 (updated 24 July 2016), accessed 22 October 2026. Critical source.</ref> The amuta Who Profits (R.A.) was registered on 3 December 2013.<ref name="AmutotReg" />

== Research and methodology ==
Who Profits says its research relies mainly on public records, including company publications, news articles, government documents and court verdicts. It also carries out field tours and submits freedom of information requests. It says all company profiles and publications are peer reviewed, and that companies are contacted before publication and given a chance to comment.<ref name="WPAbout" /> It publishes in-depth reports, updates, flash reports, dynamic reports and infographics. It also runs an information centre that answers questions about particular companies.<ref name="WPAbout" />

The database sorts corporate involvement into three groups:<ref name="WPInvolvement" /><ref name="WP2020" />
* '''Economic exploitation''': the Palestinian captive market; exploitation of occupied production and resources; exploitation of labour.
* '''Settlement enterprise''': Israeli construction on occupied land; settlement production; services to the settlements.
* '''Population control''': specialised equipment and services; the wall and checkpoints; private security and surveillance technology.

Who Profits also announces when companies are taken off its database. In September 2015, for example, it removed [[Veolia Environnement]], [[Transdev]] and the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations after Transdev sold its holdings in the Jerusalem Light Rail.<ref name="WP2015Veolia">Who Profits, [https://www.whoprofits.org/publications/report/118 Removing Veolia Environnement, Transdev and Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (CDC) from the Who Profits Database] ''Who Profits Research Center'', September 2015, accessed 22 October 2026. Who Profits-side source.</ref>

=== Selected publications ===
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Selected Who Profits publications
! Date !! Title !! Subject
|-
| October 2019 || Profiting through Dispossession: Another Side of Airbnb's Complicity<ref name="WP2019Airbnb">Who Profits, [https://www.whoprofits.org/publications/report/145 Profiting through Dispossession: Another Side of Airbnb's Complicity] ''Who Profits Research Center'', October 2019, accessed 22 October 2026. Who Profits-side source.</ref> || [[Airbnb]] listings in settlements
|-
| February 2020 || UN Releases List of Companies Involved in the Israeli Occupation<ref name="WP2020" /> || Response to the UN database
|-
| May 2020 || NSO Group: Technologies of Control<ref name="WP2020NSO">Who Profits, [https://www.whoprofits.org/publications/report/150 NSO Group: Technologies of Control] ''Who Profits Research Center'', May 2020, accessed 22 October 2026. Who Profits-side source.</ref> || [[NSO Group]] surveillance technology
|-
| June 2023 || Dried Up: Mekorot's Involvement in the Israeli Occupation<ref name="WP2023Mekorot">Who Profits, [https://www.whoprofits.org/publications/report/165 Dried Up: Mekorot's Involvement in the Israeli Occupation] ''Who Profits Research Center'', June 2023, accessed 22 October 2026. Who Profits-side source.</ref> || [[Mekorot]], Israel's national water company
|-
| December 2023 || The Companies Supplying Weapons to Israel's Attack on Gaza<ref name="WP2023Weapons">Who Profits, [https://www.whoprofits.org/publications/report/170 The Companies Supplying Weapons to Israel's Attack on Gaza] ''Who Profits Research Center'', December 2023, accessed 22 October 2026. Who Profits-side source.</ref> || Israeli and multinational arms suppliers, including [[Elbit Systems]]
|-
| August 2024 || Greenwashing Dispossession: The Israeli Renewable Energy Industry and the Exploitation of Occupied Natural Resources<ref name="WP2024Green">Who Profits, [https://www.whoprofits.org/publications/report/172 Greenwashing Dispossession: The Israeli Renewable Energy Industry and the Exploitation of Occupied Natural Resources] ''Who Profits Research Center'', August 2024, accessed 22 October 2026. Who Profits-side source.</ref> || Renewable energy in the occupied territories
|-
| June 2026 || Digitizing Occupation: The Role of Big Tech in Israeli Military Infrastructure<ref name="WP2026BigTech">Who Profits, [https://www.whoprofits.org/publications/report/164 Digitizing Occupation: The Role of Big Tech in Israeli Military Infrastructure] ''Who Profits Research Center'', June 2026, accessed 22 October 2026. Who Profits-side source.</ref> || Profiles of eight multinational technology providers to Israeli security bodies
|}

== The UN database of settlement businesses ==
When the [[Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights]] published its first list of 112 companies in February 2020, Who Profits called it "an important and concrete step toward ensuring that corporations are held accountable". It also criticised the list's "narrow focus and restrictive temporal frame". It noted that only 18 of the 112 companies were international, and that major firms such as HeidelbergCement, which had run a quarry in the West Bank for more than 13 years, were missing. It said its own verified database listed more than 400 companies.<ref name="WP2020" /> HeidelbergCement, now [[Heidelberg Materials]], was added to the UN database in 2025.<ref name="AHRC6019">United Nations Human Rights Council, [https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=A/HRC/60/19&l=en&t=pdf Database of all business enterprises involved in the activities detailed in paragraph 96 of the report of the independent international fact-finding mission (A/HRC/60/19)] ''United Nations'', 26 September 2025, accessed 22 October 2026.</ref>

[[NGO Monitor]] said in 2019 that OHCHR and the [[United Nations Human Rights Council]] were "relying significantly on Who Profits in preparing a UN 'blacklist'".<ref name="NGOM2019" />

== Organisation and funding ==
In the Israeli register of amutot, Who Profits gives its objects as research on economic and social issues in Israel and the region, and public activity and debate based on that research "to promote equality and justice". The register gives its address as Derech HaAtzmaut 104, Haifa. For 2025, its latest reporting year, it recorded income of NIS 884,100, four employees and ten members.<ref name="AmutotReg" />

The Israeli register of donations from foreign state entities lists funders of Who Profits from 2014 onwards. They include [[Trócaire]], ICCO, the [[Church of Sweden]], HEKS, [[Fagforbundet]], [[Medico International]], the [[Rockefeller Brothers Fund]], CCFD-Terre Solidaire, Bread for the World, [[ActionAid]], Diakonia, SOMO, [[DanChurchAid]] and the Avaaz Foundation.<ref name="ForeignDonations">[[Ministry of Justice (Israel)|Israeli Ministry of Justice]], [https://data.gov.il/api/3/action/datastore_search?resource_id=35cb40b5-3f13-4bca-9ce2-488085913107&q=580581411&limit=200 Donations from foreign state entities: records for amuta 580581411] ''data.gov.il'', accessed 22 October 2026.</ref> The register contains repeated entries for some periods, so the figures below are the individual records as filed for 2022 onwards, not totals.

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Donations from foreign state entities reported by Who Profits, 2022 onwards (as filed)
! Donation year (quarter) !! Date reported !! Donor !! Amount (NIS) !! Stated purpose
|-
| 2022 (Q1) || 27 June 2023 || [[Trócaire]] || 64,455 || Research
|-
| 2022 (Q1) || 27 June 2023 || [[Trócaire]] || 70,881 || Research
|-
| 2023 (Q2) || 26 June 2024 || [[Trócaire]] || 59,457 || Research
|-
| 2023 (Q3) || 27 June 2024 || [[Trócaire]] || 139,260 || Research
|-
| 2024 (Q2) || 26 June 2025 || [[Trócaire]] || 139,297 || Research
|-
| 2024 (Q3) || 26 June 2025 || [[Trócaire]] || 61,798 || Research
|-
| 2025 (Q2) || 28 July 2026 || [[Trócaire]] || 203,810 || Research
|}
Source: Israeli register of donations from foreign state entities.<ref name="ForeignDonations" />

[[NGO Monitor]] reports that Who Profits received NIS 4,189,094 from foreign governmental bodies between 2014 and 2022, and that its 2022 income was NIS 1.1 million. It also says Who Profits is receiving US$465,000 from the [[Rockefeller Brothers Fund]] for "general support" over 2019–2026.<ref name="NGOMProfile" />

== Controversies and conflicts ==
=== NGO Monitor criticism ===
[[NGO Monitor]] calls Who Profits "a leader in BDS efforts against Israeli and foreign companies" and says it was founded "in response to the Palestinian call for boycott, divestment and sanctions".<ref name="NGOMProfile" /><ref name="NGOM2016" /> In its 2019 report it argued that "many of the companies in Who Profits' database have minimal, remote, presumed, and/or non-existent connections to settlements". It said companies were included because they contributed to security measures or routine government functions. It also disputed the international-law basis of Who Profits' work.<ref name="NGOM2019" /> Of the June 2023 Mekorot report, NGO Monitor said it "ignored that Israel's use of water is entirely consistent with international law and practice, and is dictated by the 1995 Interim Agreement (Oslo II)".<ref name="NGOMProfile" /><ref name="WP2023Mekorot" />

== See also ==
* [[Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights]]
* [[UK Companies with documented links to business activity in the Occupied Palestinian territories and the occupied Golan]]
* [[UK companies linked to 'Israel']]
* [[Israel Corporations Authority]]

== External links ==
* [https://www.whoprofits.org/ Who Profits website]

== Notes ==
<references/>

[[Category:Israeli Think Tanks]]
[[Category:Research]]
[[Category:NGOs]]
[[Category:Israeli settlements]]
[[Category:Israel–Palestine conflict]]
[[Category:Corporate Social Responsibility]]

Who Profits - Revision history

Israel Company Bot: New page on the Who Profits research centre: history, methodology, publications, response to the UN database, register and funding records, and criticism, with sources