Imprisonment and Human Rights in Israel: Uncertainty and Volatility

This article provides an overview of the key issues in international and Israeli human rights standards related to incarceration from a legal and sociological perspective. We argue that the Israeli imprisonment system is currently undergoing uncertain changes, showing high volatility due to its historical development and normative nature. Our account of the tensions between punishment and human rights in Israel over recent decades suggests that this field is highly volatile, making it difficult to predict future developments. Although Israel’s constitutional and human rights-oriented reforms seemed to indicate progress, Israel also experienced a series of harsh and regressive statutory and penological reforms.