Labor Rights

March 30, 2026 Subscribe to ACRI's newsletter Donate to ACRI NPR Interview CNN Interview Photo: © Oleschwander | Dreamstime.com Dear friend, The champagne was popped and high-fives and congratulatory pats on the back were exchanged. The cause for celebration? The passage of the Death Penalty Bill into law.   The disgraceful jubilation surrounding such a repugnant law by the racist and extremist Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir and other members of the government

Photo: © Nipa Sawangsri | Dreamstime.com On March 30, 2026, ACRI filed a petition with the Supreme Court demanding the repeal of the Death Penalty for Terrorists Law, minutes after it passed its second and third readings in the Knesset. The law mandates the death penalty by hanging (with limited exceptions) in the military courts in the territories for Palestinian defendants convicted of murder on a terror-related basis, and either the death penalty or life imprisonment in t

Photo: © Alanhutcheson | Dreamstime.com The Knesset has passed a death penalty bill : Penal Code (Amendment—Death Penalty for Terrorists). Below is information about the law, which ACRI unequivocally opposes.  What does the law say?  The proposal addresses the application of the death penalty in military courts in the territories and in civilian courts in Israel, separately, since these operate within two separate and distinct legal systems. The bill passed and became law o

March 30, 2026 Subscribe to ACRI's newsletter Donate to ACRI Photo: Wix Dear friend, With Passover around the corner, I wanted to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you for your continued support and interest in ACRI’s work. I hope that this Passover we can celebrate freedom from war, and that spring brings with it renewal and rejuvenation.  ACRI's staff never ceases to amaze me, but I am truly in awe of how much they have been able to accomplish in between

Illustrative. Antiwar demonstrator during the Gaza War. Photo: Yossi Zamir, Shatil-stok On March 4, 2026, ACRI submitted an appeal to the Attorney General and to the police following the dispersal of a small and quiet demonstration against the war with Iran in Habima Square in Tel Aviv. About 20 protesters participated. Upon their arrival at the location, they found around 40 police officers waiting for them. The officers declared that the gathering was unlawful and was distu

Photo: Amos Gil, Shatil-stok ACRI filed a petition with the Supreme Court on March 26, 2026, requesting that it order the police to shut down the new Incitement Unit and to return the enforcement authority over speech-related offenses to the national headquarters of the police.  The petition argues that for decades, the investigation and enforcement of the criminal prohibition on expressions, including incitement to terrorism, were carried out through an institutional process

Illustrative. Children reading in a shelter during an air raid alert. Photo: © Oleksandr Lypa | Dreamstime.com On March 24, 2026, ACRI appealed to the Minister of Education and senior officials in the ministry with an urgent demand to establish an outline specifically addressing the guidelines for matriculation exams for students in the conflict zone in the north. Although the Ministry of Education published a general outline for the 2026 summer matriculation exams, it did n

Soldiers leading the cows from the pen owned by the petitioners to the civilian truck About a dozen armed and uniformed soldiers arrived at a barn belonging to a Palestinian family in the West Bank, handcuffed the barn owner and his son, broke through the barn's fences, and loaded the cattle belonging to the family onto a civilian truck that arrived at the scene escorted by military jeeps. Social media posts from a group that aids settlers in pursuing agricultural projects (l

Illustrative. Photo: Sebastian27 via Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 4.0) On December 17, 2025 ACRI submitted a petition to the Supreme Court on behalf of fans of the soccer team Hapoel Tel Aviv against the Police Commissioner. The petition demands that the police immediately stop enforcing an illegal policy to prevent fans from entering the soccer stadium because of their clothing or controversial political content.  The petition details a series of incidents that occurred in recent wee

March 24, 2026 Subscribe to ACRI's newsletter Donate to ACRI Dear friend, I know that there are a million developments in the news that you are following on a number of fronts, but I want to turn your attention to a critical issue that ACRI is strenuously working on—and one that you can do something about. While the world’s attention is on the latest war with Iran, the government is advancing its loathsome Death Penalty Bill , an encapsulation of its cruelty, racism, and deat

Photo: © Syda Productions | Dreamstime.com Before weekly government meetings, the agenda is usually published along with attached appendices, which include proposed resolutions. The agenda and appendices are distributed to ministers and professional officials, and published for the public on the website of the Prime Minister's Office. But what was published before the government meeting scheduled for January 25, 2026 was unusual. An agenda was published, but nothing was publ

Illustrative. Photo: © Nathaniel Zorach | Dreamstime.com On August 18, 2025, ACRI filed a petition with the Supreme Court demanding that the police be prohibited from using mounted units to disperse demonstrations—or, at the very least, that the procedures governing the use of mounted units be amended in such a way that would ensure the safety of demonstrators, including prohibiting the use of mounted units together with other crowd‑control measures, conditioning the use of

Illustrative. Shuk in the Old City. Photo: © Rostislav Glinsky | Dreamstime.com Since the beginning of the current war with Iran, the Jerusalem Police have not been allowing Palestinian residents and citizens to enter the Old City of Jerusalem unless they are residents of the area. They have also been ordering shops to close even though there is no prohibition on commercial activity in the Old City, or in Jerusalem in general. Meanwhile, Jews are able to enter the Old City w

A Palestinian shepherd arrested in the Jordan Valley after an attack by settlers, July 2025. Photo: From the Facebook page of Jordan Valley activists Shepherding communities have lived for decades in the northern Jordan Valley, making their living from raising and grazing sheep and cattle. These communities maintain a unique way of life, and family ties are essential for their survival. But residents’ movements have become increasingly restricted over the years, a result of,

Photos: Abeer Joubran, ACRI On February 1, 2026, ACRI petitioned the Supreme Court on behalf of four residents of the city of Lod, demanding the removal of concrete roadblocks placed by the police in two of the city's neighborhoods that are home to hundreds of Arab residents. In one neighborhood, the concrete barrier has completely sealed off the area; there is no other way to enter or exit. In the other neighborhood, the alternative road passes through an industrial area tha

View of Jordan Valley (photo is not connected to the events in this article). Photo: © Vladimir Blinov | Dreamstime.com On June 29, 2025, ACRI submitted a petition on behalf of 12 farmers from the Wadi Fara area in the Jordan Valley, who have been unable to reach their plots of land and cultivate them since October 2023 due to harassment by the settler Moshe Sharvit. Sharvit is the founder and leader of Emek Tirtza Farm, a violent and unauthorized outpost established near th

March 11, 2026 Subscribe to ACRI's newsletter Donate to ACRI In a bomb shelter during the war with Iran in June 2025. Photo: Yossi Zamir, Shatil-stok Dear friend, During these anxious and frightening times, I wanted to update you on how we are doing at ACRI. With sirens warning of missile attacks blaring at all hours of the day and night, children home from school, and dealing with unimaginable levls of uncertainty, we are nonetheless keeping busy. So far ACRI’s staff is shel

Photo: © Volodymyr Tverdokhlib | Dreamstime.com Against the backdrop of the ongoing hostilities with Iran, the absence of in‑person schooling, and the gaps between the ability of different student populations to participate in online learning, ACRI submitted an appeal to the Director‑General of the Ministry of Education and the Director‑General of the Ministry of Communications. In the appeal, Attorney Tal Hassin noted that the transition to remote learning once again reveale

Photo: © Aaron Amat | Dreamstime.com On March 9, 2026, ACRI contacted the State Attorney and senior police officials following the arrest of a resident of Umm al-Fahm on suspicion of "harming symbols of government," after a video was found on his phone of him giving a police station the middle finger. In the appeal, Attorney Hagar Shechter clarified that the crime of "harming symbols of government" does not exist in Israeli law, and that therefore this is an arrest without a

A village in the West Bank. Photo: © Jose Hernandez | Dreamstime.com Since the beginning of the war with Iran, sweeping and draconian movement restrictions have been imposed on Palestinians (and only Palestinians) in the West Bank, which include checkpoint closures, road blockages, and the installation of new gates deepening the isolation of towns and communities. The army is also not providing residents with even minimal protection--whether from the war or from attacks by s

Photo: Arik Segal, "Documenting the Hi-Tech Protest," WhatsApp Days after the start of the latest war with Iran, police violently and unlawfully dispersed an antiwar demonstration in Tel Aviv.   Unfortunately, this is not a new or unexpected event. Below are summaries of some of the cases that ACRI has handled in which the police have attempted to suppress the right to freedom of protest and freedom of expression during wartime. Each case is an illustration of a tactic attemp

February 25, 2026 Subscribe to ACRI's newsletter Donate to ACRI Photo: © Andreykuzmin | Dreamstime.com Dear friend, The first few months of a child’s life are critical in monitoring their health and development. In recognition of the importance of this period, and the importance of ensuring that children (and their parents) have access to health information and health services, Israel has a network of well-baby clinics, Tipat Halav (literally, “A Drop of Milk”). At these cli

Illustrative. East Jerusalem school. Photo: Ronit Sela, ACRI On February 24, 2026, ACRI filed a petition with the Supreme Court demanding the repeal of the Law Preventing the Employment of an Educator Holding an Academic Degree from an Institution in the Palestinian Authority. We also requested that the court issue an interim order preventing the law from entering into force until a decision is rendered on the petition. The law, which amends the State Education Law and the Su

A demonstration in Pardes Hanna to bring back the hostages. Photo: Amos Gil, Shatil-stok On February 18, 2026, ACRI contacted the Commander of the Coastal District and the Acting Legal Advisor of the Israel Police following unlawful demands made by the police toward the organizers of an event titled “In Pardes Hanna, We Choose Peace and Nonviolence.” The police were requiring the organizers of the event, which was going to take place in an auditorium, to obtain a permit and t

© Andrey Popov |   Dreamstime.com On February 16, 2026, ACRI, together with Physicians for Human Rights and Itach–Ma’aki, contacted the Minister of Health to demand the reopening of the well-baby clinic (Tipat Halav) in the Bedouin community of Bir Hadaj, which was closed in August 2025.  There are two Tipat Halav clinics in Bir Hadaj. One has been closed for a long time, while the other, which served approximately 500 women and their children, was closed following break-ins

Photo: Wix Media In September 2020, the police scrapped the protocol that prohibited photographing protesters other than under exceptional circumstances. The police claimed there would be a new protocol, but despite repeated requests from the Association for Civil Rights, no new protocol has been put into place. Meanwhile, police officers have been photographing protesters whenever they like, without any justification. Officers have used their personal phones to photograph in

© Monkey Business Images | Dreamstime.com The State Education Regulations (Activity of an External Entity in the Education System), 5786–2026, instruct the Minister of Education to establish rules to prevent school activities led by a person or organization that is not part of the education system that stand in opposition to the objectives of the State Education Law. The enactment of the regulations was delayed for eight years, and the Minister of Education announced the for

Photo: © Kevin George | Dreamstime.com Over the past 20 years, arrangements to compensate workers following military operations and states of emergency have been based on a system in which the State reimburses employers for the loss of their income, and employers pay employees the wages they lost due to absences caused by the emergency. In other words, employers receive compensation directly from the State, and they then transfer the payments to their workers.  The Forum for

Illustrative. Photo: © Gburshtein | Dreamstime.com On February 9, 2026, ACRI submitted an appeal to the Chair of the Knesset Committee objecting to a proposed amendment to the Property Tax Law, introduced as part of the 2026 Economic Efficiency Law (“Arrangements Law”). The amendment proposes imposing a property tax on vacant land designated for construction and on underused agricultural land of up to 1.5% of the land’s value. The property tax was previously repealed after ex

Photo: Yossi Zamir, Shatil-Stock A bill proposing reforming the Police Internal Investigations Department (MACHASH) is being discussed by a joint Knesset committee of the National Security Committee and the Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee. The original bill was introduced by MK Moshe Saada and sought to remove MACHASH from the State Attorney’s Office and place it under the authority of the Minister of Justice, who would also appoint the head of the committee; it woul

© Liujunrong | Dreamstime.com Several times in recent months, the police set up roadblocks on access roads to Arab towns in order to fight crime and weapons smuggling. The roadblocks paralyzed main traffic arteries, made entry and exit to the towns difficult to impossible, disrupted daily life, and violated residents' rights to freedom of movement and human dignity.  In response to these actions, we sent appeals to the Attorney General, the Police Commissioner, and the Legal

Illustrative. Photo: Wix After two and a half years of war, approximately 42,000 people in the Gaza Strip, including 10,500 children, remain seriously injured and in need of rehabilitation and ongoing care. Meanwhile, Gaza’s healthcare system has been decimated, and lost around 1,500 medical staff during the war. Even before the war, Gaza’s limited healthcare system relied heavily on assistance and training from specialist physicians from around the world, who came for volunt

Illustrative. Photo: © Igor Terekhov | Dreamstime.com On January 25, 2026, an inspector from the Negev Water Corporation disconnected the water supply to three unrecognized Bedouin villages in the Negev, after discovering damage caused by vandalism to the infrastructure of the water cabinet. As a result, approximately 150 families, including children, the elderly, and people with disabilities, were left without water. When the water supply was not restored after four days, w

February 4, 2026 Subscribe to ACRI's newsletter Demonstrating against the government's indifference to crime in Arab society. Photo: Oded Feller, ACRI This past weekend in Tel Aviv and around the country Arabs and Jews demonstrated in massive numbers against the unchecked crime wave raging in Arab society. This was a moving show of bravery on the part of Arab society, which has faced escalating attempts at marginalization and silencing since the outbreak of the war, and solid

Garbage in an East Jerusalem neighborhood beyond the separation barrier, February 2026 On November 13, 2025, ACRI contacted the Director General of the Jerusalem Municipality and the head of the Sanitation Department following numerous appeals from residents living in East Jerusalem neighborhoods beyond the separation barrier regarding mountains of garbage piling up in the streets. Tens of thousands of residents and Israeli citizens live in these neighborhoods: the Shuafat Re

© Andrei Dodonov | Dreamstime.com The Association for Civil Rights in Israel petitioned the Supreme Court on February 12, 2025, demanding the cancellation of the Protection of the Public from Criminal Organizations Law.   This law, which was approved by the Knesset as a temporary provision for two years, allows police to use tools that had previously reserved exclusively for counterterrorism and state security purposes, based on classified intelligence as well as administrat

Barriers in Jisr az-Zarqa. Photo: Abeer Joubran, ACRI On January 12, 2026, ACRI petitioned the Supreme Court on behalf of six residents of the town of Jisr az-Zarqa, demanding the removal of concrete barriers that the police placed at the entrance to the town and within two of its neighborhoods. The barriers at the entrance to the town narrow the traffic lanes, obstruct vehicle movement, and endanger drivers; the barriers within the neighborhoods prevent passage by pedestrian

Illustrative. A shepherd in the West Bank. Photo:  © Rrodrickbeiler | Dreamstime.com On January 23, 2026 ACRI contacted the army on behalf of two shepherd families from the village of al-Nakhb in the West Bank. The families have been living in this location for decades, and according to them, the land is privately owned and belongs to the estate of the family’s grandfather.      In mid-January, a military jeep arrived at the home of Youssef’s family (name has been changed for

Gali Baharav-Miara, Israel's Attorney General. Photo: Yosi Zamir, Shatil-stok The Kesset's Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee has been debating a bill initiated by the committee's chairman, MK Simcha Rothman, to split the role of the Attorney General for the Government. This is an extremely dangerous proposal that introduces political considerations into law enforcement, and does away with fundamental principles such as the binding status of the Attorney General's opini

Subscribe to ACRI's newsletter January 20, 2026 Goats from a nearby settler outpost grazing on what was the home of a resident of Ras al-Ain Dear   friend,   This past Wednesday, members of ACRI’s staff visited the village of Ras al-Ain in the southern Jordan Valley in the West Bank. Ras al-Ain was home to about five communities of approximately 110 Bedouin families. “Was,” because it is in the process of being dismantled and evacuated, after being forcibly expelled by settle

Map of some of the fences erected on the roads. Map courtesy of Dror Atkes, "Kerem Navot" Wide swaths of major roads northern Jordan Valley have been illegally fenced off over the past few months. The fences were installed by local settlers, with the clear purpose of restricting the movement of the area’s Palestinian residents. As a result of the fencing, Palestinian communities are disconnected from grazing and agricultural fields, and are burdened with further restrictions

Photo: © Designer491 | Dreamstime.com ACRI submitted a petition to the Supreme Court against the head of the Civil Administration, demanding the return of bail funds deposited by Palestinians for release from detention or as deposits to ensure their appearance at court. The Civil Administration has accumulated approximately 53 million shekels belonging to Palestinian residents, which it is required by law to give back. State Comptroller reports and journalistic coverage have

Photo: © Karl Francis Dale Tapales | Dreamstime.com On December 15, 2025, ACRI, together with Itach-Maaki and Physicians for Human Rights, sent an appeal to the Ministry of Health regarding the mediators program operated through the Ministry of Health, via a contractor, at 26 Tipat Halav (well-baby) clinics in Bedouin communities in the Negev. The program's purpose is to reduce infant mortality in Bedouin society: mediators translate and make medical information accessible t

Tel Aviv University protest in Entin Square (off-campus), March 2025. Photo: Orna Naor, Shatil-Stock On January 12, 2026, we appealed to the President of Tel Aviv University following a new policy published by the university to regulate public activity on campus. The policy includes significant restrictions on freedom of expression, protest, and association on campus, that include requiring protests to take place off campus, police approval for every cultural event, prohibiti

Illustrative. Photo: Rachel Druck, ACRI Palestinian residents of the West Bank have increasingly been subject to detention by soldiers. They testify that they were detained by soldiers, taken to a military base, held in harsh conditions for long hours (in extreme temperatures, without being provided with food or water, without access to restrooms, and without being able to move—sometimes shackled and blindfolded). In some of the worst cases, physical violence was used against

A special Knesset committee is currently debating the Communications (Broadcasting) Bill, 2025 ("Broadcasting Bill"), which seeks to enact reforms in Israel’s commercial broadcasting market and its regulation. Among other things, it proposes to establish a new regulatory body that would replace the existing one. This new regulator would have the power to censor broadcasts and would be subject to political influence. This would, consequently, weaken or destroy the tools design

Illustrative. The village of Qasr al-Sir in the Neve Midbar Regional Council. @ Aiob Abo Madegam | Dreamstime.com For years, the Neve Midbar Regional Council has been providing educational services to thousands of students who are residents of unrecognized villages under a contracting agreement between the council and the Ministry of Education. On December 18, 2025, the Regional Council announced that, due to an ongoing budgetary and operational dispute with the Ministry of E

© Rene Van Den Berg | Dreamstime.com On January 4, 2026, the Ministry of Economy and Industry launched the "Israel Basket" project: retail chains with many branches nationally can compete to offer the lowest price for a shopping basket of 100 products defined as "basic products." Despite the good intentions, an examination of the list of products included in the basket, the tender conditions that were published, and media reports all raise serious concerns that the project wa

Photo: © Framestock Footages | Dreamstime.com On December 29, 2025, the media published that men in civilian clothing who identified themselves as police officers arrived at the home of a well-known protest activist and gave her a form to appear for "questioning" at a district police station. When she arrived at the station, she discovered that three Shin Bet officers were waiting for her, to have a "friendly conversation" about posts she published on social media criticizin

© Maksym Voitenko | Dreamstime.com Since the beginning of the war, major movement restrictions have been imposed on Palestinian residents of Hebron. Palestinians in the city are under curfew, which means that all residents, including young children, the elderly, and people with disabilities, are prohibited from leaving their homes; they are not allowed to open their shops; driving in private Palestinian vehicles is not allowed and emergency and service vehicles must coordinat