Public defender's office

Public Defender warns of deepening prison crisis, expanded enforcement powers

Regarding the expansion of police enforcement, the Public Defender’s Office cited a legislative proposal to designate criminal organizations as terrorist organizations.

|BySARAH BEN-NUN
Prisoners at the Givon Prison in the city of Ramla, central Israel, January 11, 2026.
Police car at night

Body discovered in Jerusalem warehouse identified as radio producer missing for two decades

Abramov had been missing since 2008, and no leads on her whereabouts were found for nearly two decades, despite investigators' assessments that she may have been in the Old City area.

|ByEFRAT FORSHER
View of the empty courtroom at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem on July 13, 2025.

Prosecution backs acquittal of man in 1990 murder, cites rare, exceptional circumstances

Maslouhi was convicted in 1994 of offenses stemming from a plot to kidnap and rob Attar, who was shot during the incident, critically wounded, and later died of his injuries.

|BySARAH BEN-NUN
Israel Prison Service guards operate in a special wing of Israeli citizens accused of spying for Iran, in the Damon Prison, in northern Israel, July 1, 2025

Israel faces worst prison overcrowding crisis in its history, report warns

Aspects of daily life behind bars include cells so crowded that detainees cannot move without climbing over one another, and inmates sleeping on thin mattresses on the floor for weeks or months.

|BySARAH BEN-NUN

Public defender unites with Shaked against false convictions

The annual report slammed the system on cannabis, the texting judge, police brutality, and isolation of minors in prison.

JULY 22, 2018ByYONAH JEREMY BOB
Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked (Bayit Yehudi).

Israeli Public Defender Report: Prosecution destroyed evidence

That Supreme Court decision came after years of struggle by the Public Defender’s Office regarding the issue.

SEPTEMBER 10, 2017ByYONAH JEREMY BOB
Gavel [Illustrative]

Supreme Court rejects retrial for a man who confessed while intoxicated

The public defender presented new evidence that during the time that Shalom made his partial admission, he was on certain drugs and presented an expert opinion that he could have been delusional.

SEPTEMBER 7, 2017ByYONAH JEREMY BOB
Supreme Court Judge Salim Joubran

Public defender: Israeli prison conditions still insufficient

The Israeli Public Defender’s Office noted prisoners' inadequate conditions in its annual report.

JULY 9, 2017ByYONAH JEREMY BOB
INMATES WALK through the Hermon Prison in northern Israel last week.