Tirana Hasan, the new executive director of Human Rights Watch, said on Thursday that Israel is "experiencing unrest" that could affect human rights, and urged the United States and other allies to do more to hold it accountable for alleged abuses and persuade it to change course.

Edited by | Hugh Gey

Politics section

30 March 2023 - Tel Aviv

     Hassan added, in statements to Reuters, that the planned judicial amendments by Israel's national religious government would be a "catastrophe" for human rights.

And she added, “With the current state of the Israeli government and the attacks on the judiciary in particular, we see that this is not a government that is committed to human rights.” This is a government that is actually on a rampage over human rights, internally on its own people in Israel….

“This is a perfect example of how biased she and the organization are,” said Lior Hayat, a spokesman for Israel's Foreign Ministry. Israel is a strong and vibrant democracy. The demonstrations over the past few months are an impressive example of this, with hundreds of thousands of people demonstrating in the streets. No violence, the police protect them. This is how real democracy works.

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        "It is another example of an organization targeting Israel with anything, without a minimum level of understanding or fairness," he added. It is very unfortunate.”

The government's plan to empower parliament to override Supreme Court decisions and influence judicial appointments has sparked some of the biggest street protests in Israel's history, with opponents describing the move as a threat to democracy.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his supporters say the plans will ensure an appropriate balance between the elected government and the judiciary and will not jeopardize the rights of individuals and minorities. Earlier this week, Netanyahu halted legislative action to implement the plan and began talks with the political opposition on a compromise.

Hassan, a lawyer who advocates for asylum seekers, said she hopes that "US President Joe Biden's administration will take advantage of its relationship and its authority to ensure that Israel sort of steps back from the brink it is now in terms of human rights."

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