Israel Civil Rights Lawyer Warns of Discriminatory Tax Law and Election Fears

Gadir Nicola, deputy director of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, says the current coalition has triggered an unprecedented legal workload and is pushing laws that discriminate against Arab citizens. Speaking from her office in Nof HaGalil, Nicola said the group had already filed a petition against the new death-penalty law for non-Jewish terrorists, and then rushed to challenge another bill passed the same day, the so-called urban mixed-settlement incentive law.

The tax law, approved as a temporary order through 2029, grants a 12% tax benefit to urban localities with 35% to 55% non-Jewish residents. Nicola said the original proposal effectively targeted only Nof HaGalil, and even after the threshold was changed to 35%, lawmakers adjusted the income cap so that Acre could also qualify. She argued that the law was designed not only to strengthen Nof HaGalil by attracting a wealthier, mostly Jewish population, but also to weaken nearby Nazareth, which she described as suffering from poverty, overcrowding and rising crime. She also pointed to National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s decision last week to move the northern police headquarters from Nazareth to Nof HaGalil, saying it had no substantive justification and would cost tens of millions of shekels.

Nicola said the organization has filed 116 petitions and related proceedings to the Supreme Court since the government took office in December 2022, including challenges to railway restrictions on political clothing, alleged harassment of Palestinian flag protesters, the repeal of the reasonableness standard, spyware use without authorization, food supplies for security detainees, driving licenses for asylum seekers, and the exclusion of Hapoel Tel Aviv fans over provocative shirts. She said the group must prioritize cases because the government is flooding the system with what she called a “blanket bombing” of bills, many of them extreme, and that many Knesset committees have become toxic spaces where lawyers are interrupted and attacked.

Despite the pressure, Nicola said the organization still seeks to influence legislation early, though it often has to wait to see whether a bill advances. She cited a recent High Court ruling ordering the state to allow Red Cross visits to security prisoners for the first time since October 7, 2023, after the government repeatedly delayed its response, but said enforcement may require contempt proceedings. She added that the struggle is not only legal but public, through media, conferences and social networks, and stressed that the group has no political ties and fights for rights even when it is unpopular.

Looking ahead to the next election, Nicola said she fears some voters may be deterred from reaching polling stations because of fear, unrest or police actions in Arab towns. She cited roadblocks in Jisr al-Zarqa and warned that even a shooting near a polling place could be used to restrict movement. Still, she predicted Arab turnout will be high, not low, because voters want the state to address internal security and crime. In her view, Ben Gvir’s confrontational visits to Arab communities could end up mobilizing voters instead of suppressing them.