Rabbis for Human Rights

Rabbis for Human Rights was founded in 1988.[1][2] A 2008 anniversary commentary attributed its establishment to concern about human-rights violations during the Israel Defense Forces’ suppression of the First Intifada and said its work later broadened to social concerns in Israel and the territories.[3] This explanation represents the commentary’s framing rather than an independently established organizational history.

RHR says it has been a registered Israeli non-governmental organization since 1990, under registration number 580151967.[1] An encyclopedia entry instead says the Committee of Rabbis for Human Rights formed in 1992.[4] The available sources do not explain whether 1992 refers to a different organizational stage or entity.

The organization describes itself as non-partisan and says it brings together more than 170 ordained rabbis, rabbinical students, and rabbinic leaders from different Jewish denominations and schools in Israel.[1] A 2008 account described an earlier membership structure of 100 Israeli rabbinic members and approximately 750 associate rabbinic members in the Diaspora.[3] Its participants have included rabbis and students from Reform, Orthodox, Conservative, and Reconstructionist traditions.[2]

In 2013, Rabbis for Human Rights–North America changed its name to T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights and ended formal and financial ties with the Israeli organization. The organizations had separate boards, staffs, and legal status; T’ruah said the change would reduce confusion and allow each organization to focus on its own priorities.[5]

RHR lists the Speaker of the Knesset Award in 1993, the Niwano Peace Prize in 1996, the Yeshayahu Leibowitz Award in 2009, and the Gandhi Peace Award in 2011.[1] The 1993 award recognized contributions to the rule of law, democratic values, human rights, tolerance, mutual respect, and good neighborliness.[1][3]

RHR organizes much of its work through Territories, Social Justice, Education, and Interfaith departments.[6] Protective accompaniment for Palestinian farmers has become a principal element of its territorial work.[7]

The Territories Department operates mainly in Area C of the West Bank — known by its original, indigenous Jewish name of Judea and Samaria. RHR says it accompanies Palestinian communities, shepherds, and farmers and documents alleged violations through photographs, video, testimony, documents, and medical records.[8] It also reports providing essential supplies when possible and working with more than 1,000 volunteers on protective presence, agricultural support, and rehabilitation of land and water resources.[8] These descriptions are RHR’s institutional account of local conditions and the purpose of its work.

During the olive harvest, RHR organizes volunteers to accompany farmers to agricultural land. Its harvest page describes an alternating two-year fruiting cycle and daily accompaniment from October 9 through the end of November, reporting that more than 1,200 volunteers worked in 35 communities during the previous harvest.[9] A June 2026 report separately gave figures of roughly 1,400 volunteers in the previous year’s harvest and 500 in tree-planting activities.[7]

The Social Justice Department says it has worked since 2003 to advance the right to live with dignity through policy advocacy, community work, education, and assistance in realizing social rights. It traces its development to the campaign of Vicki Knafo and single mothers and says it helped lead opposition to the “Wisconsin Plan.”[10] Its Rights Center serves Hadera, Wadi Ara, and nearby communities, while pandemic-era projects included a multilingual hotline and food-voucher service points in East Jerusalem and unrecognized Bedouin villages in the Negev.[10] Policy work addresses public housing, food security, access to services, debt, financial justice, and workers’ rights.[11]

The Education Department has operated for more than two decades, particularly among young adults. Its programs serve pre-army preparatory academies, service-year programs, universities, colleges, and 12th-grade classes, using Jewish texts to examine human rights.[12] Educational tours address Jerusalem, Negev Bedouin communities, and the Gaza Envelope. “Tractate Independence” studies Israel’s Declaration of Independence alongside legal, literary, linguistic, and Jewish sources.[12] Earlier programming also included a Human Rights Yeshiva and teaching in army and police academies and Arab, Jewish, religious, and secular schools.[3]

The Interfaith Department combines theological study, dialogue, and joint action. Its European Union-funded “Faithful Futures” project, operated with the Christian organization Sabeel, brings Jewish, Muslim, and Christian religious leaders and influencers from Israel and Palestine together to study human rights and international law and develop public campaigns.[13] RHR has also hosted the Interreligious Coordinating Council to promote dialogue among Jewish, Muslim, and Christian institutions.[14] Other activities include an annual Interfaith March for Human Rights and Peace in Jerusalem, olive harvesting with Palestinian farmers, and spring tree plantings in the West Bank and Negev.[13]

RHR says its authority derives from Jewish humanistic tradition and international human-rights conventions. Its work is grounded in the belief that every person is created in the image of God and in a Jewish obligation to protest injustice and care for the stranger, the different, and the vulnerable.[1] It seeks to bring humanistic interpretations of Jewish texts into Israeli public discourse and connect religious learning with public responsibility.[1]

A 2001 scholarly article characterized RHR’s approach to the Arab-Israeli conflict and Arab rights as a liberal Jewish perspective. It described the leadership’s aim as applying the “prophetic mission of Jewish life: social justice and equality” to political and interpersonal issues surrounding the conflict and reported that the group documented alleged violations and expressed solidarity with Arab victims.[15]

RHR’s stated aims include informing the Israeli public about human-rights concerns, cooperating with organizations in Israel and abroad, and pressing policymakers and institutions to protect vulnerable populations.[1] It identifies healthcare, shelter, education, and a minimal standard of living as basic rights and directs its work toward minorities, Palestinians in the territories, migrant workers, and people experiencing poverty or exclusion.[1] Its educational materials seek to turn these principles into what its Torah collection calls “a culture of awareness and action.”[2]

RHR has used public appeals, litigation, and campaigns to challenge policies it considers harmful. In 2011, it joined 52 other human-rights organizations in asking Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin to stop a proposed anti-boycott bill sponsored by Likud parliamentarian Ze’ev Elkin. The bill had passed its first reading by 32–12; opponents argued that its definition of boycott was vague and could restrict freedom of expression.[16]

In July 2009, RHR called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak to order an external investigation into the army’s conduct during the recent Gaza offensive after Breaking the Silence published soldiers’ testimonies. Director Arik Ascherman said human-rights groups had repeatedly asked Attorney General Menachem Mazuz to investigate and criticized reliance on military inquiries.[17]

RHR has also pursued access to agricultural land. Ascherman wrote that RHR, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, and five Palestinian local councils won a 2006 Supreme Court case requiring security forces to help Palestinian farmers reach their land safely.[18] Field worker Zakaria Sada separately wrote that an RHR petition on behalf of a landowner near the Esh Kodesh outpost led the army to close the area to Israelis, which he presented as a protective measure.[19]

Campaigns concerning demolitions have included a 2004 protest at which Ascherman was arrested, litigation in the Susya dispute, and opposition to the evacuation of Umm Al-Hiran.[20][21] NGO Monitor reported that RHR submitted a master plan for Susya and asked the High Court to review it before demolitions proceeded; it also reported that RHR called on activists to resist the demolition of Umm Al-Hiran.[21][22] The monitor separately documented RHR’s opposition to the Prawer plan and its circulation of a Theodore Bikel video and suggested campaign actions in 2013.[23] These factual accounts appear within NGO Monitor’s critical evaluation of the campaigns.

RHR has also condemned violence. A 2014 statement rejected revenge after murders that it said appeared nationally motivated and emphasized the value of human life in Jewish tradition.[24] Its November 18, 2014 statement expressed grief over the terrorist attack at a Jerusalem synagogue in Har Nof and called on regional leaders to extinguish hatred and violence.[25]

Rabbi Arik Ascherman served as RHR’s president and senior rabbi from 1995 to 2016, according to NGO Monitor. After leaving following what that source describes as organizational differences, he formed Haqal – United in the Defense of Human Rights.[26]

Rabbi Ma’ayan Turner held leadership roles at RHR and twice served as chairperson, although the dates are not specified.[27] Rabbi Michael Marmur served for three years as chair of the board and remains a board member.[28] A 2025 profile identified Rabbi Dana Sharon as head of the Rabbis’ Network and described her work with people experiencing poverty and Palestinian populations in the territories. A gallery caption identified Rabbi Avi Dadush as executive director.[29]

Leadership descriptions changed during 2026. An April report said Avi Dabush had served as executive director since 2019.[6] A June report identified Anton Goodman as acting CEO, and the organization’s current website also lists Goodman in that role.[7][1] An October report called him acting executive director.[30] The reports do not explain the transition or the variation in titles.

RHR has also cooperated with other religious movements. A 2001 commentary reported that Netivot Shalom, which had generally opposed joint activity with non-Orthodox groups, had begun working with RHR on issues including opposition to house demolitions in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.[31]

RHR’s field activities have at times been associated with reported attacks and disputes. A U.S. State Department report on 2006 said RHR and the Kibbutz Movement requested IDF protection after settlers reportedly severely beat a 72-year-old Palestinian farmer near Salem; the request was reportedly refused.[32] The report also said a later promise by Defense Minister Amir Peretz to address interference with farmers followed a two-year legal effort by RHR and the Association for Civil Rights in Israel.[32]

On October 23, 2015, a knife-wielding Jewish extremist attacked RHR president Arik Ascherman while he was assisting Palestinian olive workers near Itamar, according to a State Department report.[33] Ascherman wrote that he had been documenting a fire and alleged destruction of fruit trees when he was struck with stones and kicked; RHR field worker Zacharia Sadeh filmed the encounter from a distance.[18] Allegations about events preceding the attack remain attributed to Ascherman’s account.

In October 2019, Ynet reported that volunteers assisting farmers from Burin were attacked with metal rods and stones near Yitzhar. Rabbi Moshe Yehudai was injured, and police opened an investigation. RHR said masked settlers attacked the group, while representatives of Yitzhar called the event a provocation that violated security instructions.[34]

In February 2022, roughly 400 activists joined farmers in Burin to replace olive trees uprooted during an earlier violent incident. Ynet reported that RHR initiated the planting with other organizations, that three people had been lightly injured in the preceding incident, and that settler leaders condemned that attack.[35] Director Avi Dabush described the return as an expression of belief in “another Judaism” devoted to human rights, peace, and partnership.[35]

The 2023 State Department report said Palestinian olive-industry representatives, RHR, and Israeli press reports attributed restricted access to Area C olive groves to IDF checkpoints and road closures. It also recorded claims by human-rights groups, including RHR, that authorities insufficiently investigated and rarely prosecuted settler violence.[36] A separate passage collectively reported that employees of several Israeli and Palestinian NGOs had faced questioning, detention, intimidation, threats, or assault, without providing RHR-specific examples.[36]

An October 2026 harvest near Nahalin produced competing accounts. RHR said farmers had been unable to reach the groves for three years and that volunteers worked peacefully for two hours before the IDF declared a closed military zone. An RHR activist said letters requesting coordination had received no response, while the IDF said no advance request had been submitted and that the landowner needed to coordinate.[30] The report did not resolve the disagreement.

Initial reports said approximately 90 volunteers were detained, while police later listed 32 people released with restrictions, four foreign activists investigated further, and 40 others released without grounds for continued detention; the totals were not reconciled.[30] Ynet separately reported RHR’s estimate of about 80 detainees and noted that the location required coordination, that nearby requests had recently been approved, and that the plot was small.[37]

RHR’s cross-denominational religious identity and advocacy for Palestinian rights have attracted both recognition and criticism. An encyclopedia entry describes it as distinctive among religious peace organizations because it included Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform rabbis and says it gained prominence through support for Palestinian human rights.[4]

NGO Monitor quotes RHR’s stated reliance on Jewish tradition and universal human-rights principles while critically examining its Bedouin and Palestinian advocacy.[26][23] Separate reports scrutinize its involvement in the Susya and Umm Al-Hiran disputes.[21][22] The monitor’s evaluations should be distinguished from the dates, statements, and campaign activities it records.

A 2016 report said RHR perceived a decline in grave settler assaults that year but believed less serious assaults were often ignored or inadequately handled. It also reported RHR’s view that demolitions at Sussiya and a school in Khan al-Ahmar appeared to have been delayed because of international pressure and its hope that policy would instead be guided by Jewish morality.[38] These were RHR’s assessments as reported by the newspaper.

RHR’s positions on land access and demolition policy are evidence of its priorities, but its allegations about official conduct remain attributed to the organization and individual witnesses.[18][30] Competing accounts of violence and access restrictions likewise remain attributed to the reporting organizations and participants involved.[34][36]