Israel's Interior Ministry issued its ruling this week, some six months after Human Rights Watch asked for permission for its New York-based Israel and Palestine director, Omar Shakir, to be able to work in the country. The group, which shared a Nobel Peace Prize in 1997 for its work to ban landmines, said it was surprised by the application rejection as it frequently communicates and meets with the foreign ministry, the Israeli military and police, along with other government officials. The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs cited "propaganda" as a reason for its decision, alleging HRW has "engaged in politics in the service of Palestinian propaganda, while falsely raising the banner of 'human rights'..."

Echoing its rejection letter, a foreign ministry spokesperson described the organization as "not a real human rights group", with a "hostile agenda," Al Jazeera reports. HRW condemned claims it was “not a real human rights group”, saying the permit denial was the latest move to constrain the work of local and international human rights groups in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza. In a statement , HRW countered that its work in Israel had also included numerous reports of human rights abuses in Palestine, such as the detention of journalists by the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, an extrajudicial execution carried out by Hamas' military wing, and executions by Hamas in Gaza "This decision and the spurious rationale should worry anyone concerned about Israel's commitment to basic democratic values. It is disappointing the Israeli government seems unable or unwilling to distinguish between justified criticisms of its actions and hostile political propaganda," said Iain Levine, HRW Deputy Executive Director for Program.While the decision was deemed "ominous" by HRW, the organization has had its ability to investigate human rights abuses in the West Bank sharply truncated ever since 2010, with Israel refusing HRW staff access to the area without impediments — save for a single visit in 2016.Moreover, it comes at a time when Israel is increasingly cracking down on human rights groups' operations in the country; a law passed by the Knesset in July 2016 targets human right groups, imposing onerous reporting requirements that burden their activities. "The Israeli Government is hardly the only one to disagree with our well-researched findings, but efforts to stifle the messenger signal that it has no appetite for serious scrutiny of its human rights record," Mr Levine said. Last year, the government passed a Transparency Law requiring groups that receive more than half their funding from abroad to declare it and Israeli authorities have been accused of doing little to help human rights researchers receiving death threats from nationalists. While the law's wording does not specifically refer to any organization, pro-Israel NGOs are not impacted by its requirements.In August, five US activists aiming to investigate living conditions for Palestinians in Israeli-occupied areas were arrested, detained and then deported, as well as being banned from ever returning.In December, Israel detained African theologian Isabel Phiri over claims the organization for which she works, World Council of Churches, supported sanctions against Israel.Palestinian rights defenders have also received anonymous death threats , been subject to travel restrictions and even arrested and charged on questionable grounds On Twitter, Shakir noted that while Israel was far from unique in contesting HRW's findings, it was almost alone in blocking the organization from entering the country — only states such as North Korea, Sudan, Uzbekistan and Venezuela "where there is zero appetite for human rights engagement" had done the same to date.
Israel denies entry to Omar Shakir, a researcher for Human Rights Watch and an American citizen, because the organization engages in so-called Palestinian propaganda. HRW's Sari Bashi said, "This Israeli government has been narrowing the space for democratic activity," by closing the country off to critics. Later, the Israel government would grant Mr. Shakir a tourist visa while considering HRW's appeal on the work visa.