State of Israel |
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International human rights organizations, along with the United Nations, and the United States Department of State, have reported human rights violations committed by the State of Israel, particularly against minority groups. These reports include violations of the rights of Palestinians, both inside and outside Israel as well as other groups in Israel.[1][2]
Israel is described in its Declaration of Independence as a "Jewish state"[3] – the legal definition "Jewish and democratic state" was adopted in 1985. In addition to its Jewish majority in the area excluding the occupied Palestinian territories, Israel is home to religious and ethnic minorities, some of whom report discrimination. In the Palestinian territories, successive Israeli governments have been subject to international criticism from other countries as well as international and domestic human rights groups.[4][5][6][7] One of the Basic Laws of Israel, intended to form the basis of a future constitution,[8] Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty, is a major tool for safeguarding human rights and civil liberties in the State of Israel. However, the United Nations Human Rights Council and Israeli human rights organization Adalah have highlighted that this law does not in fact contain a general provision for equality and non-discrimination.[9][10]
Freedom House has described Israel as more politically free and democratic than neighboring countries in the Middle East.[11] According to the 2015 US Department of State's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, Israel faces significant human rights problems regarding institutional discrimination against Arab citizens of Israel (many of whom self-identify as Palestinian), Ethiopian Israelis and women, and the treatment of refugees and irregular migrants. Other human rights problems include institutional discrimination against non-Orthodox Jews and intermarried families, and labor rights abuses against foreign workers.[12]
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