B'Tselem

B'Tselem, formally known in English as the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, is a Jerusalem-based Israeli nonprofit organization established in February 1989. Its work centers on documenting alleged violations of human rights and international humanitarian law in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza, as well as explaining how Israeli policies and military practices affect Palestinian civilians. The organization also seeks to challenge denial of abuses and promote a human-rights-based public culture in Israel. The organization emerged during the First Intifada, after a period in which Israeli military operations and Palestinian attacks had generated intense debate about the conduct of the occupation. Its founders included lawyers, academics, doctors, civil-liberties advocates, and members or supporters of Israel's parliamentary left. David Zucker, a Knesset member associated with Ratz, helped initiate the project after discussions in the United States and financial support from the Human Rights First community. Other early figures included Daphna Golan-Agnon, Haim Oron, Zehava Gal-On, Avigdor Feldman, and Edy Kaufman. The name B'Tselem comes from the Hebrew phrase meaning 'in the image of God,' a reference to the organization's view that all people possess equal dignity and fundamental rights. B'Tselem's principal output is investigative and statistical reporting. Its researchers collect testimony and other information from Palestinians, Israeli citizens, public records, media reports, and institutional sources. The organization has published reports and position papers on killings, detention, settlement policy, land administration, house demolitions, movement restrictions, military investigations, and conditions in Gaza and the West Bank. Because Israeli citizens have faced restrictions on entering parts of the occupied territories, B'Tselem's fieldwork has increasingly relied on Palestinian researchers and local contacts, with analysis and publication coordinated from Jerusalem. The group has also changed its relationship with Israeli authorities. It previously forwarded complaints from Palestinians to the Israel Defense Forces for investigation. It stopped doing so for Gaza-related complaints in 2014 and for West Bank complaints in 2016, arguing that the process had become ineffective and that investigations were being used to create an appearance of accountability without producing meaningful results. B'Tselem continues to publish evidence and analysis but does not present itself as a government investigative body or law-enforcement agency. B'Tselem's positions have become more explicit over time. A 2013 report on Area C argued that Israeli planning and land policies constrained Palestinian construction and development across the West Bank. In January 2021, the organization described the system governing the area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea as an apartheid regime organized around Jewish supremacy, and argued that Israel could no longer accurately be described as a democracy alongside a separate occupation. Israeli officials and pro-Israel advocacy groups strongly reject that characterization. During the Gaza war that began in 2023, B'Tselem issued increasingly severe warnings about Palestinian civilian suffering, detention conditions, displacement, and the conduct of Israeli military operations. Its 2024 report Welcome to Hell alleged systematic abuse and degrading conditions affecting Palestinian and Israeli Arab detainees. Later statements concerning northern Gaza described the Israeli campaign as ethnic cleansing, while a report published in July 2025 characterized Israel's conduct in Gaza as genocide. These are the organization's findings and legal-political assessments, not neutral descriptions accepted by all parties. B'Tselem is funded by private donors, foundations, European and North American institutions, and governmental bodies in Europe, including EU-related funding. It maintains an advocacy presence in Washington, D.C., under the name B'Tselem USA. The organization is praised by some Israeli journalists, human-rights advocates, and international observers for its documentation, while critics accuse it of political bias, delegitimization, reliance on Palestinian sources, or inaccurate classification of casualties. Despite this controversy, B'Tselem remains an active and influential source of information about Israel's policies and conduct in the occupied territories.

B'Tselem was founded in Jerusalem on 3 February 1989, during the First Intifada, by a coalition of Israeli lawyers, academics, doctors, civil-liberties advocates, and politicians associated with the Israeli peace and parliamentary left. The immediate background was growing concern over Palestinian deaths, detention, military rule, settlement expansion, and the limited availability of independently gathered information about the occupied territories. David Zucker helped organize the initiative after meeting Michael Posner of Human Rights First in the United States and receiving initial financial support for its establishment. The organization's Hebrew name refers to the biblical expression that humanity was created in the image of God. B'Tselem connects this phrase with the principle that all people possess equal dignity and should enjoy fundamental rights. Its original mandate combined documentation with public education: it sought to record violations in the West Bank and Gaza, counter denial that such violations occurred, and encourage Israeli society to confront the consequences of occupation while preserving a commitment to humanistic and democratic values. In its early years, B'Tselem developed a research model based on field investigation, witness testimony, data verification, and publication of reports for Israeli and international audiences. Before the Second Intifada, Israeli Arab researchers conducted much of the fieldwork in the West Bank and Gaza. Later restrictions on Israeli access led the organization to rely more heavily on Palestinian researchers and local contacts, who transmitted information to the Jerusalem office by telephone, fax, and other means. B'Tselem's work has covered killings, injuries, administrative detention, torture allegations, house demolitions, land confiscation, settlement activity, checkpoints, restrictions on movement, and the treatment of Palestinian communities under military and administrative control. The organization received the Carter-Menil Human Rights Prize jointly with the Palestinian organization Al-Haq in December 1989. Over subsequent decades it became one of the most frequently cited Israeli sources on conditions in the occupied territories. Supporters have regarded its reports as unusually systematic and important to accountability. Israeli military bodies have at times criticized its methodology but have also used or consulted its information when examining incidents. In 2009, Military Advocate General Avichai Mendelblit publicly acknowledged the value of B'Tselem's assistance in locating witnesses and clarifying complaints. B'Tselem's relationship with Israeli institutions became more adversarial as the organization concluded that internal complaint mechanisms were not producing genuine accountability. It stopped forwarding Gaza complaints to the IDF in 2014 and West Bank complaints in 2016, saying that military investigations could serve to create an appearance of scrutiny while failing to address structural abuses. Its advocacy increasingly addressed the international legal and political dimensions of occupation, including settlement policy and the status of Area C, which constitutes approximately 60 percent of the West Bank and remains under full Israeli control under the Oslo framework. In 2013, B'Tselem's report Acting the Landlord argued that Israeli planning rules and enforcement practices made Palestinian building and development in Area C extremely difficult or effectively impossible in many locations. The organization contended that the effects extended to communities in Areas A and B because those areas often lacked sufficient land for natural growth. This report exemplified B'Tselem's combination of empirical documentation and legal analysis under international humanitarian and human-rights law. In January 2021, B'Tselem adopted its most consequential public characterization of Israel's governing system. It argued that Israel, the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza should be analyzed as one geopolitical space under Israeli control and that this system institutionalized Jewish supremacy. The organization therefore described Israel as an apartheid regime rather than as a democracy operating alongside a separate occupation. The Israeli government and pro-Israel critics rejected the claim as inaccurate and politically motivated, while international activists and some human-rights organizations treated it as an important intervention in the debate over Israeli rule. The Gaza war beginning in 2023 further broadened B'Tselem's emergency advocacy. The organization documented and condemned mass displacement, deprivation, attacks affecting civilians, and detention conditions. Its August 2024 Welcome to Hell report alleged systematic mistreatment of Palestinian and Israeli Arab detainees. In October 2024 it accused Israel of ethnic cleansing in northern Gaza. In July 2025 it published a report assessing that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza. These conclusions remain contested political and legal claims, but they represent the continuation of B'Tselem's long-standing effort to frame Israeli conduct through human-rights and international-law standards. B'Tselem is funded by individual donors, foundations in Europe and North America, and governmental sources including several European governments and the European Commission. It also has a Washington, D.C., presence known as B'Tselem USA. The organization remains controversial in Israel. Right-wing politicians and advocacy groups have accused it of spreading falsehoods, aiding efforts to delegitimize Israel, or misclassifying combatants as civilians. B'Tselem and its supporters reject those allegations and defend its research procedures. The organization is currently headed by Yuli Novak, who succeeded Hagai El-Ad in June 2023.

• 2024

  Publishes Welcome to Hell

  [5]Welcome to Hell: The Israeli Prison System as a Network of Torture Campsbtselem.org

  The report presents testimony alleging systematic abuse and degrading detention conditions during the Gaza war.

• 2023

  Yuli Novak becomes executive director

  [1]B'Tselemen.wikipedia.org

  Yuli Novak succeeds Hagai El-Ad as the organization's executive director.

• 2021

  Publishes apartheid position paper

  [4]A regime of Jewish supremacy from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea: This is apartheidbtselem.org

  B'Tselem describes the entire area under Israeli control as governed by a system of Jewish supremacy.

• 2016

  Ends referral of West Bank complaints to the IDF

  [1]B'Tselemen.wikipedia.org

  The organization cites concerns that military investigations whitewash rather than genuinely investigate alleged abuses.

• 2014

  Ends referral of Gaza complaints to the IDF

  [1]B'Tselemen.wikipedia.org

  B'Tselem says it no longer considers the military complaint system an effective avenue for alleged violations in Gaza.

• 2013

  Publishes Acting the Landlord

  [3]Acting the Landlord: Israel's Policy in Area C, the West Bankbtselem.org

  The report examines Israeli land, planning, and development policies in Area C of the West Bank.

• 1989

  B'Tselem is founded

  [1]B'Tselemen.wikipedia.org

  Israeli lawyers, academics, doctors, civil-liberties advocates, and political activists establish the organization in Jerusalem to document rights violations in the occupied territories.

• 1989

  Receives the Carter-Menil Human Rights Prize

  [1]B'Tselemen.wikipedia.org

  B'Tselem shares the prize with the Palestinian human-rights organization Al-Haq.

An independent Israeli human-rights documentation and advocacy organization focused on the consequences of Israeli control over the occupied Palestinian territories.

• Human-rights research · 1989

  Research reports and position papers

  B'Tselem publishes investigations and legal-policy analyses concerning Israeli military rule, settlement policy, land administration, killings, detention, house demolitions, movement restrictions, and the treatment of Palestinian civilians. The reports combine field testimony, incident records, official information, and analysis under international humanitarian and human-rights law.

• Data and documentation

  Human-rights databases

  The organization maintains public-facing documentation and statistical material concerning fatalities, injuries, detention, land policy, settlement activity, and other consequences of the occupation. These resources are intended to make patterns visible beyond individual incidents and to support journalists, researchers, advocates, and policy institutions.

• Primary-source documentation · 1989

  Testimony and field documentation

  B'Tselem gathers testimony from Palestinians and other affected individuals through field researchers and local contacts. The material forms the evidentiary basis for investigations into alleged abuses, including detention conditions, violence, displacement, demolitions, and restrictions on daily life.

• 2024

  Allegations in the Welcome to Hell detention report

  B'Tselem alleged that abuse and degrading conditions in Israeli detention facilities were systematic rather than the result of isolated misconduct. The allegations were politically and legally contested.

  Source

• 2016

  Political controversy over UN settlement advocacy

  Hagai El-Ad's address to the UN Security Council calling for action against Israeli settlements prompted attacks from Israeli political figures, including a call by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to restrict national-service volunteers from working with B'Tselem.

  Source

Read more

• 2024Welcome to Hell

  Israel · Palestinian territories · International advocacy

  B'Tselem publicized testimony from detainees alleging severe abuse, overcrowding, neglect, torture, and deaths in Israeli custody during the Gaza war.

  Outcome. The report intensified calls for international scrutiny of Israeli detention practices and was disputed by defenders of Israel's conduct.

  Source
• 2021This Is Apartheid

  Israel · Palestinian territories · International advocacy

  B'Tselem's public campaign and position paper argued that Israeli control over the area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea forms a single regime structured around Jewish supremacy.

  Outcome. The analysis became a major reference point in international debate, while Israeli authorities and critics rejected the apartheid designation.

  Source

• 2023

  Appoint Yuli Novak as executive directorOther

  Background

  Hagai El-Ad completed his period as executive director after leading the organization during several major policy and international advocacy initiatives.

  Action taken

  Yuli Novak assumed the executive director position in June 2023.

  Aftermath

  B'Tselem continued its documentation and advocacy work under new leadership during the Gaza war.

  Source

• 2021

  Adopt the apartheid characterizationStrategy

  Background

  B'Tselem reassessed the relationship between Israel, the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza as a single area under Israeli control.

  Action taken

  It published a position paper describing the governing system as apartheid organized around Jewish supremacy.

  Aftermath

  The position increased the organization's international visibility and domestic controversy.

  Source

• 2016

  Stop forwarding West Bank complaints to the IDFStrategy

  Background

  The organization alleged that military investigations were being used to whitewash complaints and did not adequately address structural violations.

  Action taken

  B'Tselem ended its referral practice for alleged West Bank abuses.

  Aftermath

  The group focused more heavily on independent research, international advocacy, and public documentation.

  Source

• 2014

  Stop forwarding Gaza complaints to the IDFStrategy

  Background

  B'Tselem concluded that referring alleged Gaza violations to the military investigative system did not provide a credible path to accountability.

  Action taken

  The organization stopped sending Gaza-related complaints to the IDF and emphasized independent documentation and public advocacy.

  Aftermath

  The decision marked a more openly adversarial relationship with Israeli military accountability mechanisms.

  Source

• 2021

  B'Tselem describes Israel as an apartheid regime[4]A regime of Jewish supremacy from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea: This is apartheidbtselem.org

  Other

  A major position paper argued that a single system of Israeli rule between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea is structured to maintain Jewish supremacy and should be understood as apartheid.

• 2016

  B'Tselem stops forwarding West Bank complaints to the IDF[1]B'Tselemen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  B'Tselem said it would no longer refer alleged West Bank violations to the IDF because it believed the military investigation system was being used to whitewash complaints.

• 2016

  B'Tselem calls for international action against Israeli settlements[1]B'Tselemen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  Executive director Hagai El-Ad addressed the United Nations Security Council and urged international action against Israeli settlements.

• 2014

  B'Tselem stops forwarding Gaza complaints to the IDF[1]B'Tselemen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  The organization ended its practice of sending complaints concerning alleged IDF war crimes in Gaza to the military, citing a lack of confidence in the investigative process.

• 2013

  B'Tselem publishes report on Israeli policy in Area C[3]Acting the Landlord: Israel's Policy in Area C, the West Bankbtselem.org

  Other

  The report argued that Israel's control over Area C restricted Palestinian construction, community development, and access to land, with consequences extending beyond Area C itself.

1. 1B'Tselemen.wikipedia.org
2. 2B'Tselem official websitebtselem.org
3. 3Acting the Landlord: Israel's Policy in Area C, the West Bankbtselem.org
4. 4A regime of Jewish supremacy from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea: This is apartheidbtselem.org
5. 5Welcome to Hell: The Israeli Prison System as a Network of Torture Campsbtselem.org