News like this would be refreshing at any time. It’s especially welcome these days, when so much of the news is gloom and doom, and anti-Israel rhetoric has become rampant and fashionable.
The news is that US chipmaker Nvidia, a pioneer and leader in AI, along with many of its employees, have donated $15 million to Israeli and other non-profit organizations that are supporting civilians affected by Israel’s war with Hamas.
After Hamas’ ruthless and unprovoked attack on attendees at a music festival on October 7, and their kidnapping of civilians and holding them hostage, it’s very clear which side is morally correct. Unfortunately, these days, logic doesn’t always prevail. Nor is making an obvious choice as simple or as feasible as it should be.
Two Explanations
So why isn’t everybody rallying to Israel’s defense? There are two explanations for this: profits and anti-Semitism. In some corporations, for example, high-level executives may support Hamas and lower-level employees may experience difficulty opposing them.
In other cases where a company does business with Muslim countries,
they cannot easily express their sympathy for Israel - even if they’d like to. And in still other situations, third parties may be offended and take their business elsewhere. What this all boils down to is that even when it is clear which side is right, siding with them may be risky.
But there’s also good news, because even these days, there are courageous businesses that put principal ahead of profits. And Nvidia is one of them.
Yahoo Finance reports that thousands of Nvidia employees based in more than 30 countries have donated $5 million to help Israeli civilians directly impacted by the war with Hamas. The company doubled that, so an additional $10 million was added to the kitty. That brought the total to $15 million.
In late December, Gideon Rosenberg, Nvidia’s Deputy General Counsel, issued the following statement: “We are proud to see such broad support from Nvidia families in Israel and around the world,” he said. “We are grateful for their prayers and hope for the safe return of our colleague Avinatan Or and the other hostages from Hamas captivity.”
According to Yahoo Finance, 30-year-old Or has been an engineer at Nvidia since April 2022. He was among the people taken hostage by Hamas at the Nova music festival along with his friend Noa Argamani and 240 other civilians. (Several of them were released in a prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas several weeks ago.)
Nvidia said that employees wanted to assist organizations involved in various charitable activities such as providing emergency lifesaving treatment, health care, and desperately-needed food assistance. Some of these organizations are well-known in charitable circles, and they include American Friends of Magen David Adom, Friends of United Hatzalah, and Zaka.
Nvidia pointed out that donations made were not only to Israeli non-profit organizations. The company also donated hundreds of computers to families evacuated from the north and south of Israel, and provided thousands of hot meals from its Yokneam office cafeteria in Israel.
Plenty Of Company
Nvidia is not the only company putting its money where its sense of justice is. Other well-known firms are also standing up against terror, and many of them sell brands and products that are household names – and not only in the US, but around the world.
In foods and soft drinks, those include KFC, Pizza Hut, and Burger King, as well as Coca-Cola and Pepsi.
Luxury products makers and fashion companies Chanel, Givenchy, Louis Vuitton, Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren, and Michael Kors are some of the major names that have either expressed their support for Israel or have various business ties with it.
Other multinationals also are enjoying the benefits of doing business with Israel. Companies like Nestle, Procter & Gamble, L’Oréal, BNP Paribas (the top bank in the EU), Intel, Bank of America, and the German firm Puma, the third largest sportswear manufacturer in the world, have also established operations or have marketed products in Israel.
And some of the largest companies have also expressed their support for Israel, including Google, Walmart, and Amazon. Mayniaga reports that in response to the war between Israel and Hamas, Walmart immediately pledged $1 million to support Israeli victims. They also condemned the actions of Hamas, denouncing violence against Israeli civilians.
According to the Christian organization CUFI (Christians United For Israel), Amazon has donated $300,000 to a US non-profit organization to enable it to buy medical equipment and technology in Israel, although it’s unclear exactly when this was made. Separately, Amazon said it would invest $7.2 billion in data centers in Israel, “to bolster the country’s technological infrastructure.”
Walking The Line
Over the years, Costco has and still does a significant amount of business with Israel, but now it’s coming under fire for selling Israeli products and possibly getting directly involved with Israel. “A burgeoning boycott movement has aimed its arrows at Costco, condemning its sale of Israeli goods, particularly clementines,” writes Mayniaga.
Costco is far from alone in trying to balance the opportunities of doing business with Israel with the backlash that brings. Amazon, for example, is now forced to deal with calls to boycott it because of its “services for apartheid against the Palestinians.” And Google does as well.
Other companies have come under even more fire, particularly McDonald’s and Starbucks. According to NBC News, “Though each company has sought to distance itself from the conflict and issued statements saying they don’t support or donate to Israel’s government or military, that has done little to quell boycott calls online.”
To paraphrase JFK, companies risking such backlash deserve to be mentioned in a corporate “Profiles In Courage.” Everybody likes to hear “thank you” – even major companies. That’s why it’s important to patronize those supporting Israel and to write letters thanking them for taking the stance they do. It really makes a difference.
Sources: www.asor.org; www.cufi.org; www.edgehill.ac.uk; www.mayniaga.com; www.nbcnews.com; www.reuters.com; www.yahoofinance.com
Gerald Harris is a financial and feature writer. Gerald can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
