The nongovernmental organization Human Rights Watch accused the Israeli government of committing crimes of apartheid and persecution against Palestinians in a report published Tuesday, prompting backlash from officials.
“Prominent voices have warned for years that apartheid lurks just around the corner if the trajectory of Israel’s rule over Palestinians does not change,” said Kenneth Roth, executive director of HRW.
The 213-page report details how Israeli authorities “have already turned that corner and today,” according to Roth, and that a “threshold” into a crime against humanity has already been crossed.
Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the report “preposterous and false,” alleging HRW sought “for years to promote boycotts against Israel,” and it accused the group of harboring an “anti-Israeli agenda,” according to Reuters.
A spokesperson for HRW told the Washington Examiner that the organization “fully” stands by the findings of the report, adding, “Human Rights Watch has never promoted a boycott of Israel.”
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Last October, former President Donald Trump’s administration was also reportedly of the inclination that the group was not supportive of Israel and considered labeling it antisemitic, according to a report from Politico. HRW denied any allegations of antisemitism.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas acknowledged the report as a welcome analysis, saying, “It is urgent for the international community to intervene, including by making sure that their states, organizations, and companies are not contributing in any way to the execution of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Palestine,” Reuters reported.
In their report, HRW referenced Israeli restrictions on Palestinian movement and seizure of Palestinian-owned land for Jewish settlement in territory occupied in the 1967 Middle East war as an example of policies it said were crimes of apartheid and persecution.
“Across Israel and the (Palestinian territories), Israeli authorities have pursued an intent to maintain domination over Palestinians by exercising control over land and demographics for the benefit of Jewish Israelis,” the group said.
Israel’s foreign ministry said HRW’s Israel information program was led by a prominent Palestinian boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement member. The author of the most recent HRW report, Omar Shakir, was reportedly expelled from Israel in 2019 due to accusations that he backed the movement.
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Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Michael Biton called the human rights report “an ongoing attempt by HRW to undermine the State of Israel’s right to exist as the nation state of the Jewish people.”
