Arik Ascherman

Ascherman is an Israeli Reform rabbi.[1] A tribute to Rabbi David Ellenson lists him with the class designation “’89”; the available material does not provide further details about his childhood or family background.[10]

He recalled staying at the Los Angeles home of David Ellenson and asking how someone so nice could become president of the seminary. Ascherman described the anecdote as a tribute to Ellenson’s menschlichkeit.[10]

Ascherman held senior positions at Rabbis for Human Rights, an Israeli organization bringing together rabbis from different Jewish movements. A 2004 contribution identified him as its executive director.[9] A 2009 report called him its director, while the U.S. Department of State’s report for 2015 identified him as president.[11][7] He served as president and senior rabbi from 1995 to 2016 and left following “organizational differences.”[3]

In his 2004 contribution to Sh’ma, Ascherman grounded his approach in Jewish religious language. He argued that Jewish physical control of Eretz Yisrael was conditional on observing the covenant, including respect for the Divine Image in every person. He criticized settlement-related land expropriation and restrictions on Arab construction and access to medical care, water, land, and olive trees. He maintained that these practices were wrong and not in Israel’s interests, whether one supported a Greater Land of Israel or a two-state solution.[9]

Ascherman’s work also involved poverty and social issues within Israel. In 2015, Rabbis for Human Rights was described as working on anti-poverty efforts as well as Palestinian farmers’ access to olive harvests.[2] In his 2004 essay, Ascherman cited figures about poverty and hunger and referred to discrimination against Israeli Arabs; those numbers and characterizations are claims made in his essay, not independently verified here.[9]

He repeatedly accompanied Palestinian farmers during olive harvests and challenged restrictions on access to farmland. In 2010, he said a 2006 High Court ruling required the state to secure the harvest, protect trees, and enable farmers to reach their land. He argued that implementation was inadequate and said his organization might petition the court again. The report also recorded the security establishment’s position that it could not protect every tree in every location.[5]

After leaving Rabbis for Human Rights, Ascherman formed Haqal – United in the Defense of Human Rights, focused on challenging land confiscation in the West Bank — known by its original, indigenous Jewish name of Judea and Samaria — and advocating for Bedouin rights in Israel. He left Haqal in August 2017 to establish another NGO.[3] By 2022, he was CEO of Torat Tzedek and had led Israeli human-rights organizations for 26 years; he also wrote that he was working with four Palestinian councils seeking security to rehabilitate land affected by denied access and settler activity.[4]

Ascherman’s advocacy has included public criticism of Israeli government and security-force policies. In 2009, Rabbis for Human Rights called for an external investigation into the Israel Defense Forces’ conduct during the Gaza offensive; Ascherman said his organization and other human-rights groups had repeatedly asked the attorney general to order an investigation.[11]

At a 2004 conference on humanitarianism in the occupied territories, Ascherman discussed a demonstration against the separation barrier in Biddu. An account of the conference says he described an incident in which a young child was allegedly tied to a jeep and used as a “human shield” by Israeli security forces, as well as his own attempts to intervene at demonstrations. This is a report of his remarks, not independent verification of the allegation.[12]

His public descriptions of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have also included condemnation of terrorism. During the 2023 olive harvest, while standing guard at a grove near Taybeh to protect Palestinian farmers, he condemned the October 7 Hamas attacks, saying there was no excuse or justification for them. He also argued that Israelis were failing to distinguish Palestinian terrorists from Palestinians subjected to violence.[6]

On October 23, 2015, Ascherman was attacked while assisting Palestinian workers with the olive harvest near Itamar. The U.S. Department of State’s 2015 human-rights report described the attacker as a knife-wielding Jewish extremist and placed the incident in its discussion of settler violence. Ascherman’s own account said the assailant threw stones, drew a knife, and kicked him; he said he ran to protect a nearby journalist.[7][13]

The attack left Ascherman with a fracture and other injuries. In 2018, the Lod District Court partly accepted the prosecution’s appeal and convicted the attacker of aggravated assault causing injury, unlawful possession of a knife, and possession of ammunition. The sentence included six months’ imprisonment suspended, NIS 5,000 in compensation to Ascherman, and 150 hours of community service. Ascherman called the conviction an important message and said the legal system could do more to enforce the law when Palestinians were victims.[14]

In April 2021, a masked man beat Ascherman with a wooden club near the Ma’aleh Ahuvia outpost after he went to ask settlers to move livestock from fields cultivated by Palestinians from Deir Jarir. Reports said he was struck several times and taken for medical treatment; he said he had responded to a shepherd’s call and that the incident was part of a series of physical attacks. Police opened an investigation. The reports also included claims from young people involved and local residents that activists provoked confrontations; the accounts were not resolved in the cited reporting.[15][16]

Ascherman’s public profile has been shaped by combining rabbinic language with direct involvement in disputes over land access, olive harvesting, poverty, and the conduct of Israeli authorities. A 2015 article portrayed him as a religious Jew and Zionist who defended Palestinian rights while also praising Israeli military commanders who enabled farmers to work their land.[2]

His approach is illustrated by the statement concluding his 2004 contribution: “We can and must do better. This is both the right thing to do and it is in Israel’s best interest.”[9] In 2023, reporting described him as having campaigned against settler violence for 28 years, including by accompanying Palestinian farmers during the olive harvest.[6]

In 2004, Ascherman was arrested while protesting the demolition of Palestinian homes at a rally organized by Rabbis for Human Rights. A Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion thesis says the Central Conference of American Rabbis passed resolutions calling for the charges against him to be dropped and condemning demolition practices it characterized as discriminatory.[1]

In February 2024, Ascherman was indicted over an October 10, 2023 incident involving two soldiers in the West Bank. The indictment alleged that he obstructed the soldiers and pushed one approximately 15 times, charging him with two counts related to obstructing public servants and one count of assault causing bodily harm. Ascherman denied wrongdoing, saying he had tried to help a shepherd from Wadi a-Siq pass the soldiers and that a recording he provided to police would prove his innocence. The report did not give a trial result or final disposition.[8]