‘Israel’ is on ‘rampage’ against human rights, says new HRW chief

Geneva (QNN)- Israel’s government is “on a rampage” against human rights, the new head of Human Rights Watch said on Thursday, urging the United States and other allies to do more to hold it accountable for alleged abuses and persuade it to change course.

A planned overhaul of the judiciary by Israel’s religious-nationalist government would be “a disaster” for human rights, HRW Executive Director Tirana Hassan told Reuters.

The judicial overhaul measures were approved by the Israeli parliament’s legislative committee in February and have provoked widespread criticism and charges that they would give the legislative branch nearly unchecked authority.

Since then, tens of thousands of Israelis have demonstrated in the 10th consecutive week of protests against government judicial reform plans critics view as a threat to democracy. The biggest demonstration, which took place in Tel Aviv, drew some 100,000 protesters, according to estimates given by Israeli media.

Plans for the judicial overhaul were put on pause after strikes and protests crippled ‘Israel’ earlier this week.

Hassan called on Washington to follow through after it issued a rare reproach over the move.

“With the current state of the Israeli government and the attacks on the judiciary in particular, we see that this is not a human rights-compliant government,” Hassan said.

“This is a government that’s actually on a rampage against human rights domestically against its own people in Israel…”

The chief spokesman for Israel’s Foreign Ministry, Lior Haiat, said: “This is an amazing example of how biased she and the organization are.

“Israel is a strong and vibrant democracy. The demonstrators over the last few months are an impressive example of it. Hundreds of thousands of people are manifesting in the streets. No violence. Protected by the police. This is how a real democracy works,” Haiat claimed.

She also alleged that HRW “targets Israel on anything, without a minimum understanding or fairness.”

Hassan, who was previously the HUW chief programs officer and had been serving as acting executive director since September 2022, following the departure of its long-time leader, Kenneth Roth, said she hoped the U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration would “leverage their relationship and their power to ensure that Israel sort of steps back from the brink which is where they are now when it comes to human rights.

“We expect the U.S. … to be holding Israel to account for abuses with the same rigor that they are prepared to hold China to account for their abuses,” she added.

Human Rights Watch labeled Israel’s treatment of Palestinians and the decades-long Israeli occupation of the West Bank as “apartheid” in a 2021 report.