Dive Brief:
- While the Israel-Hamas war now entering its second year shows signs of widening, 21% of corporations said they expect to cut their philanthropic response to the conflict over the next year, according to a survey of 41 predominantly U.S.-based multinational corporations conducted last month by the Conference Board. Only 12% expect to increase their aid to those embroiled in the crisis, and 26% said they would maintain their current commitments, the survey found.
- Businesses’ sensitivities to the extraordinarily polarizing nature of the conflict — with even humanitarian efforts potentially provoking backlash from employees or external stakeholders — have grown since the initial outbreak of the conflict on Oct. 7, 2023, the report’s findings show. In early 2024, 65% of corporate leaders surveyed indicated that they had responded to the crisis, primarily through financial contributions to humanitarian non-governmental organizations.
- “Inevitably, 12 months into the conflict, that initial pressure to respond is not as intense as it was at the start,” Andrew Jones, senior researcher at the board’s ESG Center, said in an interview Monday. “What we’ve seen is a lot of companies have gone quiet on the issue.”
Dive Insight:
Around the world on Monday, people were remembering those killed and abducted during the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel, while demonstrations of support for both Israel and the Palestinian people also took place, The New York Times reported. Since that day the hostilities in Gaza and Israel have reportedly left more than 41,689 Palestinians and more than 1,200 Israelis dead, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
The divided views and tensions surrounding the war also spilled out on U.S. college campuses last spring, while some companies have been roiled internally by the conflict, ESG Dive sister publication HR Dive previously reported.
After an initial surge of support from corporations, the conflict evolved to become entangled in broader political issues, with employees, consumers and others having very different opinions, Jones said. That has left companies unsure of what to do next and how to respond in a meaningful and nonpartisan way, he said, adding that on Monday few companies marked the anniversary of the attacks as they might have other conflicts.
The survey’s respondents noted the unusual nature of the challenges that the conflict poses for companies. Some 62% of leaders surveyed said they found the Israel-Hamas conflict “significantly” more challenging, and 13% said it was “slightly more challenging” than other disasters and conflicts, including the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, according to the report. The most cited challenge was the difficulty of “maintaining neutrality and mitigating internal and external backlash.”
Even for those firms that do decide to continue humanitarian aid it is not easy to get help to the region. “There’s obviously a huge humanitarian need in Gaza. But it’s also very difficult … there’s real logistical challenges of getting aid to people that need it the most,” Jones said.
There are several steps that CFOs and their C-suites can take to mitigate risks associated with their philanthropic aid to those affected by the conflict. These include partnering with trusted organizations, fostering open and civil discussions within companies to reduce internal tensions, limiting public positions on divisive issues and grounding them in clear business rationale and being transparent about how philanthropic funds are allocated, the report states.
