Human rights defenders in Israel are subjected to threats, violent attacks, stigmatisation, restrictions on freedom of movement, long periods of arbitrary detention usually under administrative detention orders and ill-treatment. Non governmental organisations who defend the rights of Palestinians encounter great difficulty in registering in Israel.

The situation for human rights defenders in Israel is complicated as many of the issues which they face are dominated by the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine. The UN SRSG on the situation of human rights defenders has indicated that all of the communications which she has sent to the Israeli Government have been concerned with Palestinian or international human rights defenders. A number of non governmental organisations exist in Israel which monitor the situation of Palestinians in the OPT and others which encourage religious pluralism and cooperation between Israelis and Palestinians. Many of these organisations document human rights abuses against Palestinians who are harassed, ill-treated, tortured or illegally detained. The UN SRSG states that defenders in Israel are also “engaged with child rights, housing rights and campaigning against house demolitions, labor rights, the rights of migrant workers, the right to education, health and of persons with disabilities, LGBT rights, land-rights and environmental protection”. The SRSG also identifies individual human rights defenders in Israel who are not affiliated with an organisation including “ lawyers, journalists, pacifists and conscientious objectors who refuse to serve the Israeli Occupation”. Defenders of LGBT rights in Israel have been the subject of threats and violent attacks by religious extremists and their right to demonstrate has been greatly curtailed as previous Pride marches have been forced to be cancelled for the safety of the participants. The rights of women and instances of gender discrimination are also issues in focus in Israel. Ms. Hina Jilani, the UN SRSG on the situation of human rights defenders carried out an official country visit to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory from 5 – 11 October 2005.