Over the last decade, populist and nationalist rhetoric has swept Israeli society, along with hardline legislation and policies. The main targets include Israeli minorities such as its Palestinian-Arab citizens, migrants and asylum seekers; the Palestinian people beyond the Green Line, and its leadership; and people and values associated with the political “left”, including the Israeli human rights community.
After the bombs stopped falling in Gaza in winter of 2009, another kind of attack began. Resentment against Israeli organizations defending the rights of Palestinians under occupation took on a new tone of rage.
Polling showed that these organizations had markedly low levels of support, even among traditionally sympathetic sub-groups. Concerned activists embarked with me on a year-long strategic process in 2011 to consider whether and how to engage differently with Israeli society. When I checked in with Israeli human rights leaders in 2015, most continued to struggle with the question of how best to interact with their own society, if at all. For many, local and international policymakers, or opinion formers were the more valuable audiences.
