Human & Civil Rights
Equality for Every Citizen and Human Rights for All
NIFC works to realize Israel’s founding ideal of complete equality for all Israeli citizens, and to protect the human rights of all under Israeli authority – including asylum seekers, migrant workers, and Palestinians in the Occupied Territories.
Over the past decade, respect in Israel for democracy and human rights has declined, both among government leaders and many segments of the public. Israel’s world ranking according to measures of rights and freedoms continues to fall.
Our strategies for this issue focus on reversing restrictions on freedom of speech and expression, which underpin vibrant public debate on all issues. A second focus aims to end over 50 years of occupation by keeping the issue on the public agenda, even when it is unpopular.
Examples of recently-funded projects include the Association for Civil Rights in Israel’s legal defense for victims of economic discrimination, Physicians for Human Rights-Israel’s medical clinic for asylum seekers and refugees, and Ir Amim’s monitoring of Palestinian human rights in East Jerusalem.
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI)
Litigation and Media Outreach to Protect and Defend Human and Social Rights in Israel
ACRI is the leading organization protecting human and social rights in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. This year, safeguarding human rights in Israel is especially important following a year of attacks on democracy and civil liberties by the extremist Israeli government, attacks which have only intensified since October 7 and the consequent state of emergency. In 2024, this project will offer education and legal guidance to potentially hundreds of thousands of Israelis through ACRI’s hotline and legal assistance.
Breaking the Silence
Educating Young People on the Occupation
Breaking the Silence is an organization of veteran combatants who have served in the Israeli military. They work to stimulate public debate about the price paid for a reality in which young soldiers rule over a civilian population and control Palestinians’ everyday lives. For most young Jewish Israelis, discussion of the occupation is absent from Israel’s education system; military service will be their first encounter with Palestinian and the reality of the occupation. In 2024, this project will educate students and educators about human rights in the Occupied Territories in both formal and informal settings, such as youth group chapters and high schools.
FakeReporter
Exposing the Mechanisms Behind Malicious Online Activity
FakeReporter exposes malicious online activity aimed at democratic systems, inauthentic influence campaigns, fraud, hate speech, incitement, conspiracies, and lies. FakeReporter exposes the mechanisms and actors behind online malicious activity, assists activists and organizations under attack, increases the accountability of tech companies and involvement of civil servants, as well as provides real time crisis response. In 2024, this project will research online malicious activity, assist victims suffering harassment, and publish information for the public and authorities.
Yesh Din
Law Enforcement on Settler Violence
FakeReporter exposes malicious online activity aimed at democratic systems, inauthentic influence campaigns, fraud, hate speech, incitement, conspiracies, and lies. FakeReporter exposes the mechanisms and actors behind online malicious activity, assists activists and organizations under attack, increases the accountability of tech companies and involvement of civil servants, as well as provides real time crisis response. In 2024, this project will research online malicious activity, assist victims suffering harassment, and publish information for the public and authorities.
Mobilizing Against a Racist and Anti-Democratic Bill in the Knesset
The winter session of the Knesset has barely begun, but the Netanyahu government is wasting no time jump-starting its program to weaken Israel’s democratic institutions in this new Knesset winter session. A key example of Netanyahu’s ongoing attempt to weaken the...
Former Israeli Defense Minister Yaalon is warning of ethnic cleansing in north Gaza. Everyone should listen.
By Daniel Sokatch, NIF International CEO Moshe Yaalon, who served as the IDF Chief of Staff during the second intifada, and as Prime Minister Netanyahu’s defense minister during the 2014 Gaza war, is no leftist, and certainly no friend of the Palestinians. But last...
Speaking Out About Israeli Military Practices in Gaza
Photo credit: Yossi Zamir/Shatil Stock After more than a year, and with 101 Israelis still held captive, the war in Gaza continues. NIF grantees and NIFC project partners are among the few who are working to ensure that inhumane practices of the IDF are made public....
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