Interventions to UN Committees

As a member of the UN and signatory on several international treaties, Israel is bound to respect its international commitments.

Compliance with these UN treaties is monitored through regular Committee sessions. General Comments and Recommendations assist States in fulfilling their reporting obligations, including the purposes of reporting, available UN assistance, and elaboration on States parties' obligations under the Conventions. Civil society groups also submit reports to help Committees form questions and evaluate the State party's fulfillment of treaty obligations. 

Israel has ratified the most important international human rights conventions, which contain minority rights protections. According to these international instruments, the Palestinian community in Israel constitutes a national (Palestinian), as well as an ethnic (Arab), linguistic (Arabic), and religious (Muslim, Christian, Druze) minority, and as such is to be afforded minority rights protections. While Israel's international human rights obligations are not currently binding on Israeli domestic courts, these principles provide persuasive authority for mounting minority group rights claims. Recent developments in Israeli domestic law and international human rights law provide support for claims of group discrimination and the state's obligation to afford positive rights to the Palestinian minority in Israel. It should, however, be noted that Israel has no independent Human Rights Commission which can uphold such claims.

Adalah submits reports and emergency requests to United Nations Committees reporting on Israel's compliance with conventions, and also reports and meets with UN Special Committees and Special Rapporteurs.

View Adalah's and Israel's reports to UN Committees and compiled Concluding Observations on Israel: