Former Supreme Court President Aharon Barak Tells NIF Seminar: Israel Arabs Must Have Full Equality

Former Supreme Court President Prof. Aharon Barak made huge media headlines in Israel last week when he spoke at a seminar in Tel Aviv to mark the 25th anniversary of NIF’s Israel-U.S. Civil Liberties Law Program.

Prof. Barak was the keynote speaker at a seminar entitled "Raising the Bar 25 Years of Strengthening Human Rights in Israel," attended by many of the country's leading lawyers including the 50 NIF Law Fellows, graduates of the NIF’s Israel-U.S. Civil Liberties Law Program.

Prof. Barak, who sat on the Supreme Court from 1978 until 2006 and was President from 1998 onwards, insisted that Israel must be a democratic and a Jewish State and that though ‘there is a long way to go” before Israel’s Arabs enjoy full equality, he believed this could be achieved. He blamed the occupation of the West Bank for corrupting human rights in Israel and said, ”If we do not find a way to live in peace with our neighbors and our Arab minority, we will not live in peace with ourselves.”

See the video of the speech here:

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