The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), Israel’s leading human rights organizations and the only one dealing with the entire spectrum of rights and liberties issues, has compiled the following list of experts on human rights in Israel and the Occupied Territories. The experts below are categorized according to field of expertise in alphabetical order and are available for interviews on these topics in the languages specified. The list includes ACRI staff and board members, as well as external specialists.
All requests for interviews and information can be directed to Melanie Takefman, ACRI’s International Communication and Development Coordinator, at melanie@acri.org.il, ++972-2-652-1218 or ++972-528-6060-23. For a complete list of ACRI staff biographies and for photos of interviewees for media use, click here or contact Melanie Takefman (details above).
Human Rights in Israel – General
Name: Sami Michael
Position: Author, President of ACRI
Languages: English, Hebrew, Arabic
A native of Baghdad, Sami Michael is one of Israel’s most beloved writers, and is the recipient of several literary prizes both in Israel and abroad. He has served as president of ACRI’s board for more than five years. In 2007, Mr. Michael won the prestigious Emet Prize for Culture & Arts, awarded to individuals each year who have made outstanding contributions to Israeli society, under the auspices of the A.M.N. Foundation and the Prime Minister’s Office.
Name: Attorney Dori Spivak
Position: Chairman of ACRI Board of Directors, Deputy Director of Tel Aviv University’s Clinical Law Programs
Languages: English, Hebrew
Read Dori Spivak’s biography
Name: Mr. Hagai El-Ad
Position: ACRI Executive Director
Languages: English, Hebrew
Read Hagai El-Ad’s biography
Name: Attorney Dan Yakir
Position: ACRI Chief Legal Counsel
Languages: English, Hebrew
Read Dan Yakir’s biography
Name: Mr. Rami Adut
Position: ACRI Public Hotline Coordinator, Jerusalem, ACRI Right to Health Project Coordinator
Languages: English, Hebrew
Name: Attorney Dana Alexander
Position: ACRI Legal Department Director
Languages: English, French, Hebrew
Name: Dr. Yousef Jabareen
Position: Lecturer at Haifa University’s Faculty of Law, Director of the Dirasat Arab Center for Law and Policy
Languages: English, Arabic, Hebrew
Name: Mr. Victor Lederfarb
Position: ACRI Financial Manager
Languages: Spanish
Name: Attorney Lila Margalit
Position: ACRI Legal Department
Languages: English, Hebrew
Name: Ms. Hadar Namir
Position: ACRI Public Hotline Director
Languages: English, Hebrew
Name: Ms. Gila Orkin
Position: ACRI International Relations Department Director
Languages: English
Name: Attorney Tali Nir
Position: ACRI Legal Department
Languages: Dutch, English, Hebrew
Name: Ms. Anat Saragusti
Position: ACRI Board Member, Journalist, Director of Agenda, the Israeli Center for Strategic Communications
Languages: English, Hebrew
Name: Attorney Gilead Sher
Position: ACRI Board Member; former Chief of Staff of the Prime Minister’s Office and former head of the Israeli negotiating team in talks with the Palestinian Authority
Languages: English, French, Hebrew
Specific Issues (in alphabetical order)
A
Arab Minority in Israel (including Bedouin)
Name: Attorney Dana Alexander
Position: ACRI Legal Department Director
Languages: English, French, Hebrew
Specific Areas of Expertise: Unrecognized Bedouin villages of the Negev
Name: Attorney Nasrat Dakwar
Position: ACRI Legal Department
Languages: English, Arabic, Hebrew
Name: Attorney Oded Feller
Position: ACRI Legal Department
Languages: English, Hebrew
Specific Areas of Expertise: Residency and citizenship status of the Negev Bedouin
Name: Attorney Gil Gan-Mor
Position: ACRI Legal Department
Languages: English, Hebrew
Specific Areas of Expertise: Rights of the Bedouin community in Israel, social services in the unrecognized villages of the Negev
Name: Dr. Yousef Jabareen
Position: Lecturer at Haifa University’s Faculty of Law, Director of the Dirasat Arab Center for Law and Policy
Languages: English, Arabic, Hebrew
Specific Areas of Expertise: Collective rights of the Arab minority, constitutional rights of the Arab minority, equality in budgetary allocations
Name: Ms. Anat Saragusti
Position: ACRI Board Member, Journalist, Director of Agenda, the Israeli Center for Strategic Communications
Languages: English, Hebrew
Name: Attorney Banna Shoughry-Badarne
Position: Legal Director of the Public Committee against Torture in Israel, former ACRI staff attorney on Bedouin rights
Languages: English, Arabic, Hebrew
Specific Areas of Expertise: Rights of the Bedouin community, Arab minority, rights of Arab women
Name: Mr. Ehud Uziel
Position: ACRI Public Outreach Department
Languages: English, Hebrew
Specific Areas of Expertise: Mixed Cities (Ramle)
B
Bedouin (see Arab Minority in Israel)
C
Civil Liberties
Name: Mr. Gershom Gorenberg
Position: Historian, journalist, and author
Language: English
Specific Area of Expertise: Freedom of information (IDF archive)
Name: Attorney Omri Kaufman
Position: ACRI Board Member
Languages: English, Hebrew
Specific Areas of Expertise: Religion and state
Name: Attorney Lila Margalit
Position: ACRI Legal Department
Languages: English, Hebrew
Specific Areas of Expertise: Freedom of expression, freedom to demonstrate
Name: Attorney Avner Pinchuk
Position: ACRI Legal Department
Languages: English, Hebrew
Specific Areas of Expertise: Right to privacy, freedom of expression, freedom of information
Name: Attorney Gilead Sher
Position: ACRI Board Member; former Chief of Staff of the Prime Minister’s Office and former head of the Israeli negotiating team in talks with the Palestinian Authority
Languages: English, French, Hebrew
Specific Areas of Expertise: Freedom of the press
Name: Attorney Dan Yakir
Position: ACRI Chief Legal Counsel
Languages: English, Hebrew
Specific Areas of Expertise: Freedom of expression
Criminal Justice
Name: Attorney Lila Margalit
Position: ACRI Legal Department
Languages: English, Hebrew
Specific Areas of Expertise: General, counterterrorism and human rights, secret evidence, prisoners’ rights
Name: Ms. Hadar Namir
Position: ACRI Public Hotline Director
Languages: English, Hebrew
Specific Areas of Expertise: Police violence
Name: Attorney Tali Nir
Position: ACRI Legal Department
Languages: Dutch, English, Hebrew
Specific Areas of Expertise: Police violence in East Jerusalem, criminal justice in East Jerusalem
Name: Attorney Dori Spivak
Position: Chairman of ACRI Board of Directors, Deputy Director of Tel Aviv University’s Clinical Law Programs
Languages: English, Hebrew
Specific Areas of Expertise: Prisoners’ Rights
E
Education, Education for Human Rights and Democracy in Israel
Name: Ms. Ronit Piso
Position: ACRI Public Outreach Department
Languages: English, Hebrew
Specific Areas of Expertise: Human rights education for youth, International Humanitarian Law
Name: Mr. Ehud Uziel
Position: ACRI Public Outreach Department
Languages: English, Hebrew
Specific Areas of Expertise: Human rights education for youth, International Humanitarian Law
Name: Mr. Oded Zipory
Position: ACRI Education Department
Languages: English, Hebrew
Specific Areas of Expertise: The right to education, education in Hebrew schools, human rights education in Israel’s security forces
East Jerusalem
Name: Attorney Nisreen Alyan
Position: ACRI Legal Department
Languages: English, Arabic, Hebrew
Specific Areas of Expertise: General, social and economic rights of East Jerusalem residents, education in East Jerusalem
Name: Attorney Nasrat Dakwar
Position: ACRI Legal Department
Languages: English, Arabic, Hebrew
Specific Areas of Expertise: Planning and building policy in East Jerusalem
Name: Attorney Oded Feller
Position: ACRI Legal Department
Languages: English, Hebrew
Specific Areas of Expertise: Residency and citizenship status of East Jerusalem residents
Name: Ms. Sarah Kreimer
Position: ACRI Board Member, Associate Director of Ir Amim
Languages: English, Hebrew
Name: Attorney Tali Nir
Position: ACRI Legal Department
Languages: Dutch, English, Hebrew
Specific Areas of Expertise: General, social and economic rights of East Jerusalem residents, education in East Jerusalem
Name: Mr. Ehud Uziel
Position: ACRI Public Outreach Department
Languages: English, Hebrew
Ethiopian Community in Israel
Name: Attorney Yifat Ovadia
Position: ACRI Board Member
Languages: English, Hebrew
Name: Ms. Anat Saragusti
Position: ACRI Board Member, Journalist, Director of Agenda, the Israeli Center for Strategic Communications
Languages: English, Hebrew
Name: Attorney Dori Spivak
Position: Chairman of ACRI Board of Directors, Deputy Director of Tel Aviv University’s Clinical Law Programs
Languages: English, Hebrew
Specific Areas of Expertise: Discrimination in public places
F
Forced Hospitalization (see Mentally Ill)
I
International Law
Name: Dr. Yousef Jabareen
Position: Lecturer at Haifa University’s Faculty of Law, Director of the Arab Dirasat Center for Law and Policy
Languages: English, Arabic, Hebrew
Name: Attorney Tali Nir
Position: ACRI Legal Department
Languages: Dutch, English, Hebrew
Name: Ms. Ronit Piso
Position: ACRI Public Outreach Department
Languages: English, Hebrew
Specific Areas of Expertise: International Humanitarian Law
Name: Mr. Ehud Uziel
Position: ACRI Public Outreach Department
Languages: English, Hebrew
Specific Areas of Expertise: International Humanitarian Law
Name: Attorney Limor Yehuda
Position: ACRI Legal Department
Languages: English, Hebrew
Specific Areas of Expertise: International Law in the Occupied Territories
L
LGBT Rights (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered)>
Name: Mr. Hagai El-Ad
Position: ACRI Executive Director
Languages: English, Hebrew
Name: Attorney Gil Gan-Mor
Position: ACRI Legal Department
Languages: English, Hebrew
Name: Ms. Hadar Namir
Position: ACRI Public Hotline Director
Languages: English, Hebrew
Name: Attorney Dan Yakir
Position: ACRI Chief Legal Counsel
Languages: English, Hebrew
M
Mentally Ill, Forced Hospitalization
Name: Ms. Hadar Namir
Position: ACRI Public Hotline Director
Languages: English, Hebrew
Specific Areas of Expertise: Forced hospitalization
Name: Attorney Dori Spivak
Position: Chairman of ACRI Board of Directors, Deputy Director of Tel Aviv University’s Clinical Law Programs
Languages: English, Hebrew
Specific Areas of Expertise: Rights of the mentally ill
O
Occupied Territories (OPT)
Name: Attorney Nasrat Dakwar
Position: ACRI Legal Department
Languages: English, Arabic, Hebrew
Specific Areas of Expertise: Planning and building policy, access to water, Separation Barrier
Name: Mr. Gershom Gorenberg
Position: Historian, journalist, and author of The Accidental Empire: Israel and the Birth of the Settlements, 1967-1977
Language: English
Specific Area of Expertise: Settlements, Israeli policy vis-à-vis settlements
Name: Ms. Anat Saragusti
Position: ACRI Board Member, Journalist, Director of Agenda, the Israeli Center for Strategic Communications
Languages: English, Hebrew
Specific Areas of Expertise: OPT general, settler violence
Name: Attorney Dan Yakir
Position: ACRI Chief Legal Counsel
Languages: English, Hebrew
Name: Attorney Limor Yehuda
Position: ACRI Legal Department
Languages: English, Hebrew
Specific Areas of Expertise: International law in the OPT, freedom of movement, settler violence, Hebron
R
Refugees
Name: Attorney Oded Feller
Position: ACRI Legal Department
Languages: English, Hebrew
Specific Areas of Expertise: Refugees and Asylum-Seekers
Residency and Citizenship, Migration
Name: Attorney Oded Feller
Position: ACRI Legal Department
Languages: English, Hebrew
Specific Areas of Expertise: Citizenship and residency status, Interior Ministry, Refugees
Name: Ms. Hadar Namir
Position: ACRI Public Hotline Director
Languages: English, Hebrew
Specific Areas of Expertise: Citizenship and residency status, Interior Ministry
Name: Attorney Michal Pinchuk
Position: ACRI Legal Department
Languages: English, Hebrew
Specific Areas of Expertise: Migrant workers
S
Social and Economic Rights in Israel
Name: Attorney Sharon Abraham-Weiss
Position: Lecturer at the Academic Center for Law and Business; former ACRI attorney on workers’ rights
Languages: English, Hebrew
Specific Areas of Expertise: Workers’ rights
Name: Mr. Rami Adut
Position: ACRI Right to Health Coordinator, ACRI Public Hotline Coordinator, Jerusalem
Languages: English, Hebrew
Specific Areas of Expertise: The right to health
Name: Attorney Gil Gan-Mor
Position: ACRI Legal Department
Languages: English, Hebrew
Specific Areas of Expertise: Housing rights
Name: Attorney Debbie Gild-Hayo
Position: ACRI Public Outreach Department
Languages: English, Hebrew
Specific Areas of Expertise: Public advocacy regarding social and economic rights, Knesset
Name: Attorney Michal Pinchuk
Position: ACRI Legal Department
Languages: English, Hebrew
Specific Areas of Expertise: Migrant workers
W
Women’s Rights
Name: Attorney Nisreen Alyan
Position: ACRI Legal Department
Languages: English, Arabic, Hebrew
Specific Areas of Expertise: Israeli Arab women, women and religion in Israel, women and status in Israel
Name: Attorney Banna Shoughry-Badarne
Position: Legal Director of the Public Committee against Torture in Israel; former ACRI staff attorney on Bedouin rights
Languages: English, Arabic, Hebrew
Specific Areas of Expertise: Israeli Arab women, Bedouin women, women and religion in Israel, women and status in Israel
