Democracy & the Judicial Overhaul

Overview of Anti Democratic Legislation (updated August 2023)

In the past few years, ACRI has been increasingly concerned by intensifying infringements on democratic freedoms in Israel. These threats arise, mainly, from two of the main institutions charged with safeguarding democracy: The Knesset (Israeli parliament) and government leadership. Senior officials have voiced harsh and unprecedented statements against human rights organizations, political groups, and minorities, and have made various attempts to curtail their operations. A tide of anti-democratic legislative proposals is being introduced in the Knesset and there is a rising wave of assaults on social, political, and national minorities in the public sphere.

As a result, the basic principles of the Israeli democratic system are being undermined. There is an ongoing attack on the principles of freedom of expression, human dignity and equality, and on freedom of assembly and protest. ACRI continues to demand accountability with regards to democratic principles and the assurance of such principles in every aspect of Israeli life.

Soldiers Attempt to Forcibly Expel Palestinian Families in the West Bank

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

2 days ago2 min read

Disqualifying Teachers with Degrees from the Palestinian Authority

Illustrative. East Jerusalem school. Photo: Ronit Sela, ACRI On January 21, 2026, the Knesset passed the Law for the Prevention of Employment of Education Workers Who Hold an Academic Degree from an Institution in the Palestinian Authority (Legislative Amendments), 5785-2025. The law prohibits employing educators (teachers, principals, supervisors) in Israel's education system if they have an academic degree from an institution of higher education in the Palestinian Authority

5 days ago3 min read

Getting Rid of the Gatekeepers

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

6 days ago3 min read

Witnessing the Expulsion of a Community

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

6 days ago3 min read

Return Bail Money to Palestinians

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

Jan 142 min read

Freedom of Movement for the Residents of Jisr az-Zarqa

Barriers in Jisr az-Zarqa. Photo: Abeer Jubran, 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 pedestrians

Jan 132 min read

Thanks to ACRI: The Mediators Program Aiding Negev Bedouin Communities will Reopen

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

Jan 122 min read

Tel Aviv University Restricts Freedom of Expression

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

Jan 111 min read

Palestinians Detained By Soldiers for Punishment and Intimidation

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

Jan 112 min read

Media Reform: Serious Harm to Press Freedom and Democracy

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

Jan 82 min read

Neve Midbar Regional Council Has Stopped Providing Educational Services for Children of Unrecognized Villages

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

Jan 82 min read

An "Essential Products" Basket that Includes Candy and Soda, Not Fruit and Vegetables

© 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

Jan 72 min read

Theft of Cows Belonging to a Palestinian Farmer by Soldiers

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

Jan 42 min read

Activists are Receiving Invitations for "Friendly Conversations" from the Shin Bet

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

Dec 31, 20252 min read

Blocking Entrances to Arab Towns in Israel is Illegal

© 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

Dec 30, 20253 min read

Remove Movement Restrictions Imposed on Hebron's Palestinian Residents

© 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

Dec 26, 20252 min read

Exploited "Intersection Children" Must Be Protected and Cared For

© Palex66 | Dreamstime.com On November 18, 2025, ACRI reached out to the Police Commissioner, the Directors-General of the Ministry of Welfare and the Ministry of National Security, and the State Attorney, demanding immediate and systematic action to address the ongoing issue of "intersection children." These are Palestinian minors, including children as young as five, who are brought to Israel in order to beg and sell trinkets at major traffic intersections. The children li

Dec 23, 20252 min read

Police Investigations into the Extinguishing of Chanukkah Candles

@ Costasz | Dreamstime.com On December 19, 2025 the media reported that the Israel Police opened an investigation into an incident in which a passerby blew out Hanukkah candles that were placed in the Weizmann Mall in Tel Aviv. Reports stated that the police have not yet determined the nature of the alleged crime, and that it is considering charging the passerby with the crime of desecration of a place of worship. Two days later it was reported that another investigation was

Dec 22, 20252 min read

Soccer Fans Can Attend Games, Even if Police Don't Like What They're Wearing

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

Dec 19, 20252 min read

A New Super-Pharm Policy Allowing Only Some with Disabilities to Skip the Line

© Ritu Jethani | Dreamstime.com In November 2025, the drugstore chain Super-Pharm decided to change its policy toward people with disabilities who hold a "queue exemption" card and would no longer allow individuals to skip the line for the pharmacy unless they are Ministry of Defense beneficiaries. It would continue to honor the "queue exemption" card at the regular checkout counters. In making the change, the chain relied on an interpretation of the law stating that accessib

Dec 16, 20251 min read

Allow Lifesaving Winter Supplies into Gaza

Gaza, November 25, 2025. Photo by Yousef Zaanoun, Activestills On December 16, 2025 ACRI sent an urgent appeal to the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, the Commander of the Southern Command, and the Minister of Defense, demanding that residents of the Gaza Strip be supplied immediately with protective equipment to cope with the looming winter, including tents, sealing sheets, blankets, sanitation equipment, and heating and lighting equipment. In the ap

Dec 16, 20252 min read

A Historic Ruling: Police Cannot Use Racial Profiling to Ask for ID

© Ben Gingell | Dreamstime.com First Petition On August 18, 2019, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, the Association of Ethiopian Jews in Israel, and the Public Committee Against Torture petitioned the Supreme Court with the demand that the court prohibit police from detaining people on the street and asking them to present identification when there is no suspicion that they have committed a crime. As part of the petition, we also called for the revocation of the

Dec 14, 20255 min read

Refusing Entry of International Medical Volunteers to Gaza

Photo: Wix media In October and December 2025 we sent three appeals to the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories and others regarding the refusal to allow the entry of volunteer doctors from around the world to the Gaza Strip. The three doctors on whose behalf we appealed had previously volunteered in Gaza before being refused entry. They hold American and British passports and there is no claim that they pose a security risk. Instead, the issue is that they

Dec 14, 20252 min read

Ignored Appeals from Evacuated Residents of Sderot

Photo: Gali Bessido, Shatil-Stok On February 2, 2025, the Association for Civil Rights submitted a petition to the Ministry of Tourism on behalf of four residents from Sderot who were evacuated from their city days after the war began. These residents, who were dealing with the effects of being displaced from their homes, were then denied the housing grants they were entitled to, or discovered that they had accumulated debt with the National Insurance Institute due to incorre

Dec 12, 20252 min read

No More "Warning Conversations" from Police to Discourage Participation in Protests

Demonstration by the Ethiopian community against police violence, 2022. Photo: Tali Meyer, Shatil-stock On December 10, 2025, ACRI appealed to the Police Commissioner and the Legal Advisor to the Police following testimonies we received and reports in the media about attempts by the Lachish Police to deter members of the Ethiopian-Israeli community from holding or participating in a lawful demonstration. According to the statements ACRI and the media received, the community

Dec 11, 20252 min read

Allow Seriously Ill Residents of Kfar Aqab to Pass Through a Less-Congested Checkpoint

Hizma checkpoint. Photo: © Ronen Barany | Dreamstime.com The village of Kfar Aqab in Jerusalem is located beyond the separation barrier in the city. Until the Gaza war, residents would leave for Jerusalem through the Qalandiya or Hizma checkpoints. An additional checkpoint, the Jaba checkpoint, was established at the beginning of the war and encloses the neighborhood. The checkpoints are extremely congested, and crossing them takes a long time—sometimes hours. They are also

Dec 11, 20252 min read

No More Hiding Behind Planters

Photo: © Tero Vesalainen | Dreamstime.com At the end of a major hearing at the Supreme Court this past July, the court's security guards feared violence from right-wing activists who had come to court. To avoid this, they helped representatives from ACRI quickly escape from the courtroom the moment the proceedings ended and tried to hide us in one of the corners of the building. And so there we found ourselves, after a principled and important legal hearing about the starva

Dec 7, 20253 min read

Providing Status to Female Palestinian Victims of Domestic Violence

© Emanuilov Shabtay | Dreamstime.com On May 6, 2024, we filed a legal petition (Hebrew) regarding the format of processing applications for providing legal status, on humanitarian grounds, submitted by Palestinian women who married an Israeli spouse and suffer from domestic violence. The petition was joined by Physicians for Human Rights, Woman to Woman, Women Against Violence, Women's Spirit, Itach-Ma'aki and HaMoked: Center for the Defence of the Individual. Palestinian

Dec 3, 20253 min read

The Death Penalty: Cruel, Unjust, and Racist

November 24, 2025 Subscribe to ACRI's newsletter © Ilkin Guliyev | Dreamstime.com Dear friend, Throughout Israel’s history, only one person has been sentenced to death: Adolf Eichmann. Eichmann was a high-ranking Nazi, and one of the major architects and facilitators of the mass deportation of Jews to ghettos, concentration camps, and extermination camps during the Holocaust. In reports to the United Nations and in other publications, Israel has justifiably taken pride in

Nov 24, 20253 min read

Establish Family Health Centers in East Jerusalem Neighborhoods Beyond the Separation Barrier

© Narongrit Sritana | Dreamstime.com On November 11, 2021, ACRI petitioned the Supreme Court along with a group of mothers, residents of Jerusalem, demanding that the state establish Tipat Halav family health centers in neighborhoods beyond the separation barrier. Tipat Halav family health centers provide essential health and medical services to infants and babies, as well as to pregnant women from the early stages of pregnancy to new parenthood. These centers are available t

Nov 20, 20253 min read

Police Must Allow the Protest Against the Genocide in Sudan

Photo: Henry Wilkins/VOA, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons ACRI petitioned Israel's Supreme Court on November 18, 2025, on behalf of an asylum seeker from Sudan, after the police revoked the permit for a demonstration at the United Arab Emirates embassy in Herzliya against the genocide in Sudan. The police initially approved the demonstration under certain conditions, but later reversed its decision, claiming it had received information that there was a high degree of cer

Nov 19, 20251 min read

Allowing Jordanian Citizens Living in East Jerusalem to Pass Through the Shuafat Checkpoint

Illustrative. Checkpoint between Bethlehem and Jerusalem. Photo: © Rrodrickbeiler | Dreamstime.com On November 19, 2025 ACRI petitioned the Supreme Court to oppose the policy of the police and Border Police to forbid Jordanian citizens who live in Israel legally under the framework of the family unification program from passing through the Shuafat Refugee Camp checkpoint to other parts of Jerusalem. The petition was submitted on behalf of a brother and sister, both Jordanian

Nov 19, 20251 min read

Unlawful Strip Searches of Female Protesters

Photo: Yossi Zamir, Shatil-stok (the individuals pictured are not connected to the events described in this post) On June 25, 2025, we approached the Inspector General of Police, the Legal Advisor to the Police, and the Attorney General, following two incidents in Jerusalem in which police carried out partial or full strip searches on two women who were detained at protests. The details of the incidents raise major concerns about the systematic abuse of female protesters aime

Nov 18, 20252 min read

Police Photography of Protesters

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

Nov 17, 20252 min read

Water Access in the Northern Jordan Valley

Water supply in a remote Palestinian community. Photo: Bimkom On March 19, 2025, ACRI, together with Bimkom-Planners for Planning Rights, and Jordan Valley activists, approached the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories and the General of the Central Command demanding that they act immediately to enable access to water for Palestinian agricultural communities in the northern Jordan Valley. The communities of Farsiya, Ein al-Hilwa, Samra, Khalat Makhoul,

Nov 17, 20252 min read

Getting Our Hands Dirty

November 13, 2025 Subscribe to ACRI's newsletter Dear friend, There are times when you have to get your hands dirty. ACRI’s work usually takes us to the courtroom and the Knesset, but a week ago a group of us went to the West Bank to accompany and help Palestinian farmers harvest their olives. While much of the focus has been on Gaza, major escalations in violence have taken place in the West Bank since October 2023. Life in the West Bank, which was never particularly easy

Nov 13, 20253 min read

Diverting Budgets from Arab Society: A Cynical Move that Perpetuates Inequality

Photo: Danny Shem-Tov, Knesset Communications (CC BY-SA 4 via Wikimedia) On November 11, 2025, ACRI appealed to the Attorney General with a request not to advance a government resolution proposal being promoted by Minister for Social Equality May Golan that seeks to divert close to 3 billion shekels that were allocated for the welfare of Arab society to the Ministry of National Security for the purpose of addressing crime in Arab society. The budgets that are being proposed

Nov 11, 20252 min read

The Death Penalty is Immoral

© Edward Lange | Dreamstime.com On November 10, 2025, a bill was brought for its first reading in the Knesset plenum: the Penal Law Amendment Bill (Death Penalty for Terrorists). The bill seeks to impose the death penalty on defendants convicted of murder motivated by nationalism. This punishment would be designated for Palestinians only, and seeks to limit the ability of the court to use its discretion by mandating the death penalty in these cases. The bill also proposes

Nov 10, 20253 min read

Court Translation Services: Failures and Proposals for Improvement

Photo: Wix About half of Israel's residents—Arabs, immigrants, etc.—belong to minority groups where Hebrew is not the dominant language. There are also thousands of people who do not speak Hebrew who live in Israel, including Palestinians, migrant workers, tourists, refugees and asylum seekers, etc. When those who do not speak Hebrew fluently, or at all, need to go to court, translation services is necessary in the administration of justice and ensuring their right to access

Nov 4, 20253 min read

Meet the 2025 Recipients of the Emil Grunzweig Human Rights Award

Every year, the Association for Civil Rights awards the Emil Grunzweig Human Rights Award to a person or organization that has made a significant contribution to the advancement of human rights in Israel. These are the recipients of the 2025 award: Jack Khoury. Photo: Rami Shllush, Haaretz Jack Khoury , journalist for Haaretz and news director of Radio A-Shams. For two decades, Khoury has consistently and persistently called for human rights and equality, and for mediation

Nov 3, 20252 min read

More Supervision Needed for Health Clinics in East Jerusalem

Photo: © Irinayeryomina | Dreamstime.com On July 14, 2025, ACRI submitted an appeal to the Ministry of Health and the Jerusalem Municipality on behalf of the Forum for Health Equality in East Jerusalem with an urgent demand for thorough inspections to be carried out at health fund clinics in East Jerusalem, which are usually run by franchisees. This appeal is in response to data we collected through freedom of information requests and a statistical analysis of the data, which

Oct 28, 20252 min read

Time to Get Moving

October 27, 2025 Subscribe to ACRI's newsletter Photo: © Martin Haas | Dreamstime.com Dear friend, We are thrilled to see a halt to the war and the return of the living hostages, and are hopeful that the ceasefire will continue to hold. We know that the process of rebuilding, justice, and accountability will take years. This war has cost so many lives, and ground down so much of the work we had done to preserve human rights. Now the process of rehabilitation for the people,

Oct 28, 20253 min read

Illegal Blockage of the Entrance to the Village of Fureidis

Fureidis. © Yoav Sinai | Dreamstime.com On the afternoon of October 24, 2025, the police placed a concrete barrier at the entrance to the village of Fureidis, home to approximately 15,000 people, completely blocking the eastern entrance to the village. According to a news report, the barrier was installed following complaints by the residents of nearby Zikhron Ya’akov to the Minister of National Security regarding gunfire, to which the Minister responded by instructing the P

Oct 27, 20252 min read

Stop Settler Violence that Leads to the Expulsion and Displacement of Palestinian Communities

A military vehicle and property damage in a community's residential compound in the Ramallah District. Photo: Muhannad Anati, ACRI Since the outbreak of the war in October 2023, expulsions and displacements of Palestinian communities (especially smaller and more vulnerable communities) in the West Bank and the Jordan Valley have increased. This is the result of harassment and violence by settlers, including: blocking access to grazing lands, harassment, threats, and violence.

Oct 26, 20256 min read

Police Violence at the Tel Aviv Derby

Illustrative. © Arhivafoto15 | Dreamstime.com On October 19, 2025, a soccer match was scheduled to take place between Hapoel Tel Aviv and Maccabi Tel Aviv (the Derby). The police decided to cancel the match a few minutes before it was due to start, after pyrotechnics were thrown from the stands of Hapoel Tel Aviv fans, some of which hit police officers and other fans. The fans were asked to disperse, but from the moment they left the stadium, the police acted with arbitrary

Oct 23, 20251 min read

The Plan to Reclassify Prisoners as Security Prisoners

© Rafael Ben Ari | Dreamstime.com On October 20, 2025, ACRI contacted the legal advisors to the government, the Israel Prison Service (IPS), and the Ministry of National Security, following media reports about plans to reclassify anyone incarcerated for remaining in the country illegally from criminal prisoners to security prisoners. The appeal warns against the harmful implications of the new policy and requests that this change not move forward. In the appeal, Attorney Ni

Oct 21, 20252 min read

Rolling Back Protections for Migrant Workers

Illustrative. Foreign workers in Tel Aviv. Photo: Yossi Zamir, Shatil-stok Since the outbreak of the war, there has been a rollback of protections regarding the recruitment and employment of migrant workers in Israel. Three government decisions concerning the commerce and services sector are one area in which it is apparent that these protections, which were won after decades of intense work, are being removed. The three government decisions defined the "commerce and servi

Oct 19, 20253 min read

Serious deficiencies in kindergartens in the unrecognized village of Al-Jara in the Negev

Kindergartens in al-Jara. Photo: Attorney Abeer Joubran The village of al-Jara in the Negev is an unrecognized village that is not within the jurisdiction of any local authority, so the responsibility for kindergarten education lies with the Ministry of Education. The Ministry of Education contracted with the al-Kasom Regional Council, a Bedouin regional council in the Negev, and provides it with budgets to manage registration and operate the village’s four kindergartens on i

Oct 14, 20251 min read

Let Gaza City's Hospitals Stay Put, Stay Open, and Stay Safe

Sep 25, 20252 min read

Reopen the Allenby Bridge Border Crossing

Sep 25, 20252 min read