Report Documents Doubling of Racist Incidents in Israel

April 6, 2011

The number of racist incidents in Israel over the past year has doubled from 287 in 2009 to 552 in 2010, according to the Coalition Against Racism in Israel (CAR),which comprises 26 human rights organizations, most of them NIF grantees including Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC) for the Movement for Progressive Judaism (Reform), Mossawa Center, and Tebeka, Center for Legal Aid and Advocacy for Ethiopian Jews in Israel.

The report, which was issued last week to mark International Day against Racism, found that racist incidents have quadrupled in just three years.

The report documented 97 incidents of incitement against Arabs compared with 26 the previous year. Some incidents were actually instigated by rabbis, such as the now infamous letter by Safed Chief Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu urging Jews not to sell or rent property to Arabs.

There were 110 incidents of racism between Jewish ethnic groups compared with just 27 the previous year, and 72 incidents against migrant workers and refugees, up from 11 the previous year.

Twenty four new Knesset bills with discriminatory content were proposed over the past year compared with 21 in the preceding year.

The only positive statistic in the report was that the number of racist incidents at soccer matches fell from 65 to 21, thanks in large part to NIF's “Kick It Out” campaign against racism in soccer.