What can JIJ do in a year?
2024 was our busiest and most impactful year since our founding 20 years ago
With your help, in 2024, JIJ provided FREE legal aid to 2,733 survivors of terrorism, human trafficking, and discrimination, including:
- 32 wounded Israeli soldiers
- 40 survivors of human trafficking
- 17 survivors of the October 7th massacre
- 68 families seeking Israeli citizenship or residency
- 112 refugees from Ukraine, Russia, and Eritrea
- 120 Israeli families displaced from their homes on the Gaza & Lebanon borders
How does JIJ do all of this in one year? With you, our amazing supporters. Thank you!
Our media presence grew & our team appeared on:
We met personally with dozens of global leaders, including Israel’s First Lady Michal Herzog, United Nations SRSG Pramila Patten, & US Senators Chris Murphy, Richard Blumenthal, & John Fetterman.
We shared our research, forensic evidence, and legal analysis with diplomats from 30 countries.
January - June
JIJ held a series of free “ Know Your Rights” seminars for:
- 120 Israeli families who became suddenly homeless, unemployed, or disabled as a result of the war
- 57 Ukrainian & Russian refugee families
- 9 of these families receive Israeli citizenship through the Law of Return
- 500 wounded soldiers
Gathered 84 political & religious leaders in the U.S. for a private screening of unedited, uncensored footage of the October 7th massacre recovered from the bodies of Hamas terrorists and compiled by the IDF.
Drafted an urgent petition to Stop Funding UNRWA & persuaded key members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committees to enact a 1-year ban on US funding to UNRWA.
Hosted UN diplomats from 18 countries to hear testimony from Yuval Raphael a survivor of the Oct. 7th massacre. Yuval went to the Nova Festival to dance all night with her friends. At dawn, Hamas invaded, and she sought refuge in a roadside bomb shelter, which became a tomb when terrorists found them.
Launched the Survivors Seeking Justice project, and filmed detailed video testimonies of 17 survivors of the Oct. 7th massacre.
JIJ lawyers presented forensic evidence & first responder testimony to senior UN officials. This proof confirmed a pattern of sexual violence perpetrated by Hamas on Oct. 7th and stopped the rape deniers in their tracks.
July-December
Discussed Israel’s anti-trafficking law with First Lady Michal Herzog. In 2018, JIJ persuaded the
Knesset to adopt a 5-year pilot program that treats women in the sex industry as victims of abuse, & the pimps as criminals. We’re advocating to make the law permanent!
JIJ assisted Israeli police in busting a major human trafficking ring - resulting in the arrest of 14 human traffickers, which was only possible through the testimony of our brave client.
We gave free seminars to soldiers recuperating at Ichilov & Tel Hashomer Hospitals. While private lawyers take 30-50% of a wounded soldier’s disability benefit as payment, JIJ is the only organization providing FREE legal aid to wounded Israeli soldiers, with 32 new soldier clients in 2024.
Intervened at the International Criminal Court with an amicus brief making it clear that the Court lacks jurisdiction over Israeli leaders.
Partnered with the World Union of Jewish Students to train & empower student leaders. Over 8 weeks, we trained 23 Jewish university students from 16 countries to combat antisemitism on their campuses.
The UN Human Rights Council convened a special gathering on the Jewish New Year, to condemn Israel. The timing was intentional - to prevent opposition. In response, we gave our General Assembly floor time to Amit Levy, brother of Naama Levy, who was kidnapped by Hamas on Oct. 7th. Amit gave powerful testimony on the need to free all of the hostages.
Every single donation you give, whether it’s $1000 or $10, changes lives!
What can JIJ do in a year?
2024 was our busiest and most impactful year since our founding 20 years ago
With your help, in 2024, JIJ provided FREE legal aid to 2,733 survivors of terrorism, human trafficking, and discrimination, including:
- 32 wounded Israeli soldiers
- 40 survivors of human trafficking
- 17 survivors of the October 7th massacre
- 68 families seeking Israeli citizenship or residency
- 112 refugees from Ukraine, Russia, and Eritrea
- 120 Israeli families displaced from their homes on the Gaza & Lebanon borders
How does JIJ do all of this in one year? With you, our amazing supporters. Thank you!
Our media presence grew & our team appeared on:
We met personally with dozens of global leaders, including Israel’s First Lady Michal Herzog, United Nations SRSG Pramila Patten, & US Senators Chris Murphy, Richard Blumenthal, & John Fetterman.
We shared our research, forensic evidence, and legal analysis with diplomats from 30 countries.
January - June
JIJ held a series of free “ Know Your Rights” seminars for:
- 120 Israeli families who became suddenly homeless, unemployed, or disabled as a result of the war
- 57 Ukrainian & Russian refugee families
- 9 of these families receive Israeli citizenship through the Law of Return
- 500 wounded soldiers
Gathered 84 political & religious leaders in the U.S. for a private screening of unedited, uncensored footage of the October 7th massacre recovered from the bodies of Hamas terrorists and compiled by the IDF.
Drafted an urgent petition to Stop Funding UNRWA & persuaded key members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committees to enact a 1-year ban on US funding to UNRWA.
Hosted UN diplomats from 18 countries to hear testimony from Yuval Raphael a survivor of the Oct. 7th massacre. Yuval went to the Nova Festival to dance all night with her friends. At dawn, Hamas invaded, and she sought refuge in a roadside bomb shelter, which became a tomb when terrorists found them.
Launched the Survivors Seeking Justice project, and filmed detailed video testimonies of 17 survivors of the Oct. 7th massacre.
JIJ lawyers presented forensic evidence & first responder testimony to senior UN officials. This proof confirmed a pattern of sexual violence perpetrated by Hamas on Oct. 7th and stopped the rape deniers in their tracks.
July-December
Discussed Israel’s anti-trafficking law with First Lady Michal Herzog. In 2018, JIJ persuaded the
Knesset to adopt a 5-year pilot program that treats women in the sex industry as victims of abuse, & the pimps as criminals. We’re advocating to make the law permanent!
JIJ assisted Israeli police in busting a major human trafficking ring - resulting in the arrest of 14 human traffickers, which was only possible through the testimony of our brave client.
We gave free seminars to soldiers recuperating at Ichilov & Tel Hashomer Hospitals. While private lawyers take 30-50% of a wounded soldier’s disability benefit as payment, JIJ is the only organization providing FREE legal aid to wounded Israeli soldiers, with 32 new soldier clients in 2024.
Intervened at the International Criminal Court with an amicus brief making it clear that the Court lacks jurisdiction over Israeli leaders.
Partnered with the World Union of Jewish Students to train & empower student leaders. Over 8 weeks, we trained 23 Jewish university students from 16 countries to combat antisemitism on their campuses.
The UN Human Rights Council convened a special gathering on the Jewish New Year, to condemn Israel. The timing was intentional - to prevent opposition. In response, we gave our General Assembly floor time to Amit Levy, brother of Naama Levy, who was kidnapped by Hamas on Oct. 7th. Amit gave powerful testimony on the need to free all of the hostages.
Every single donation you give, whether it’s $1000 or $10, changes lives!
STOP FUNDING HAMAS THROUGH UNRWA!
Facts that you must know about UNRWA.
Did you know that the UN has a separate agency that only serves Palestinians? There is no other people group in the world that gets their own UN agency. This organization is now on the 76th year of its original 3-year mandate. Instead of helping Palestinians settle down and build peaceful communities, for decades UNRWA has used money from generous Western donors to perpetuate the conflict under the guise of “humanitarianism.”
Did you know that UNRWA created its own definition of “refugee” status? In the rest of the world, refugees are people who are forced to flee their country of origin. They are served by the UN’s Refugee agency, which helps them gain citizenship and adjust to their new lives in new places. But UNRWA doesn’t want Palestinians to adjust to reality. If they did, UNRWA would go out of business! Instead it extends “refugee” status to the original refugees’ great-great-grandchildren, and beyond. Thanks to UNRWA, there are scores of Palestinian millionaires who hold multiple foreign passports, yet are still
Did you know that UNRWA runs 278 schools for 291,000 Gazan children? In these schools, the UN teaches Palestinian children that they are “refugees,” even though they are Palestinians living on Palestinian land. UNRWA praises terrorists who kill Jews, celebrates martyrdom, and teaches students that one day Israel will be destroyed.
Did you know that UNRWA almost exclusively hires Palestinians? No Jews allowed! Every other UN agency is staffed by people from around the world. This helps UN agencies maintain genuine “neutrality” in conflict zones that are full of political tension. But UNRWA is unique. Over 99% of its employees are Palestinian nationals. According to Israeli intelligence, approximately 15% of adult males in Gaza have ties to Hamas. But within the staff of UNRWA, it’s 23%. A greater percentage of UN employees in Gaza are Hamas-affiliated than the general populace of Gaza!
NOW is the time to radically restructure UNRWA to stop the ongoing radicalization of Palestinian society. Why? Because Palestinians deserve better than UNRWA.
Help us meet this moment. Sign our petition to STOP FUNDING UNRWA until and unless the agency is radically reformed and restructured.
What happens when well-meaning Western donors feed money to a UN agency that turns a blind eye to terrorism? The numbers tell the story.
On October 7th:
- 133 UNRWA school graduates invaded Israel to murder and kidnap Israeli civilians,
- 12 UNRWA staff directly participated in the massacre,
- 2 UNRWA teachers held hostages captive in their own homes,
- 30 UNRWA teachers publicly celebrated the violence on social media, while
- 1,200 UNRWA staff quietly helped Hamas with cars, weapons, money, information, and hideouts.
In the wake of these damning revelations, 14 donor countries, led by the United States, have paused their funding to UNRWA, demanding an investigation. It’s a good first step, but this call for an “investigation” could be an invitation to sweep UNRWA’s problems under the rug. Fire a few people, blame the “few bad apples,” rename a few departments, and turn the money spigot back on. Why? Because “UNRWA is the only option.”
UNRWA is the only option because Hamas made it that way. UNRWA developed a monopoly on aid delivery in Gaza because it is the only aid agency in the world that has been willing to play by Hamas’ rules, which are: see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.
- When Hamas puts its members on the payroll, UNRWA allows it because Hamas isn’t recognized as a terrorist group by the UN!
- When Hamas stores rockets, grenades, and suicide belts inside UN schools, shelters, and clinics, UNRWA pretends not to see.
- When Hamas fighters jump onto aid trucks to steal their contents, UNRWA claims they’re just providing security.
You understand the problem now. You see that we can’t waste this moment. Now is the time to radically restructure UNRWA to stop the ongoing radicalization of Palestinian society.
Why? Because Palestinians deserve better than UNRWA. They deserve food, medicine, and shelter delivered by transparent organizations that are not routinely infiltrated by terrorists. They deserve to receive humanitarian aid and not see most of it stolen by Hamas. They deserve schools that promote coexistence with Jews and other minorities in the Middle East.
Help us meet this moment. Sign our petition to STOP FUNDING UNRWA until and unless the agency is radically reformed and restructured.
Click the button below if you wish to support our ongoing efforts.
Second Quarter 2023 Highlights
The Jerusalem Institute of Justice is making a substantial impact; read the quarterly highlights. Your continued support enables us to carry out our mission of protecting human rights, promoting the rule of law, and advocating on behalf of Israel.
Two weeks ago, JIJ urgently submitted a recommendation to the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court regarding crucial policy changes related to crimes against or affecting children. Our unwavering aim is to drastically improve the current approach to addressing this critical issue and ensure that justice is served for all innocent victims. More details here.
JIJ has submitted a comprehensive report to the UN Human Rights Committee, revealing the stark discrepancies between the Palestinian government's claims of adhering to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the disturbing reality of inadequate law enforcement, incitement to violence, and numerous instances of torture and inhumane treatment of the Palestinian people. Read more here.
The proposed judicial reform in Israel has been a source of significant controversy. We have closely followed this debate, understanding the potential ramifications on democracy, the principle of checks and balances, and human rights within Israel. Find out more.
The Interior Ministry's decision to halt the provision of visa services negatively impacts the lives of many of JIJ's free legal aid clients. We have filed a petition with the High Court of Justice, urging the restoration of these vital services for thousands of people. We firmly believe that addressing matters such as passport backlogs is important. However, it should be done in a manner that avoids the creation of further complications. Learn more.
The participants of our GDC Israel program are making headlines. This program is dedicated to nurturing future leaders who will advocate for justice. We're immensely proud of their achievements. Check out their stories.
Lastly, we invite you to watch and share our video celebrating Israel's 75th anniversary. This milestone is a testament to the resilience and spirit of the Israeli people. Watch the video here.
Thank you for being part of our journey. We look forward to keeping you informed about our ongoing efforts.
Click the button below if you wish to support our ongoing efforts like the ones listed above.
Second Quarter 2023 Highlights
The Jerusalem Institute of Justice is making a substantial impact; read the quarterly highlights. Your continued support enables us to carry out our mission of protecting human rights, promoting the rule of law, and advocating on behalf of Israel.
Two weeks ago, JIJ urgently submitted a recommendation to the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court regarding crucial policy changes related to crimes against or affecting children. Our unwavering aim is to drastically improve the current approach to addressing this critical issue and ensure that justice is served for all innocent victims. More details here.
JIJ has submitted a comprehensive report to the UN Human Rights Committee, revealing the stark discrepancies between the Palestinian government's claims of adhering to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the disturbing reality of inadequate law enforcement, incitement to violence, and numerous instances of torture and inhumane treatment of the Palestinian people. Read more here.
The proposed judicial reform in Israel has been a source of significant controversy. We have closely followed this debate, understanding the potential ramifications on democracy, the principle of checks and balances, and human rights within Israel. Find out more.
The Interior Ministry's decision to halt the provision of visa services negatively impacts the lives of many of JIJ's free legal aid clients. We have filed a petition with the High Court of Justice, urging the restoration of these vital services for thousands of people. We firmly believe that addressing matters such as passport backlogs is important. However, it should be done in a manner that avoids the creation of further complications. Learn more.
The participants of our GDC Israel program are making headlines. This program is dedicated to nurturing future leaders who will advocate for justice. We're immensely proud of their achievements. Check out their stories.
Lastly, we invite you to watch and share our video celebrating Israel's 75th anniversary. This milestone is a testament to the resilience and spirit of the Israeli people. Watch the video here.
Thank you for being part of our journey. We look forward to keeping you informed about our ongoing efforts.
Click the button below if you wish to support our ongoing efforts like the ones listed above.
Indoctrination of Children- Policy Proposal to the ICC
Summary of Input to the Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court
To Renew the Policy Paper on Crimes Against or Affecting Children
For the full report, press here
The Jerusalem Institute of Justice has submitted its substantive input to the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court as part of their public consultation aimed at updating the policy paper concerning crimes against or affecting children. The primary objective of this public consultation, in which our organization actively engages, is to enhance the effectiveness of investigations and prosecutions pertaining to crimes committed against or adversely impacting children. JIJ actively works to raise awareness and combat the utilization of children in hostilities, highlighting the significance of addressing indoctrination as a means of exerting psychological pressure on children to join armed groups.
The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court does not explicitly define the actions of conscripting, enlisting, or using children in hostilities. Instead, the scope of these activities is determined by referencing relevant treaties, principles of international law, and general legal principles derived from national legal systems, all in line with internationally recognized human rights standards. The ICC Trial Chamber I acknowledged that children under 15 are typically unable to give genuine and informed consent when enlisting. Given the interpretive nature of the Rome Statute, indoctrination can be considered within the purview of enlisting or conscripting as it involves imposing prescribed beliefs, inhibiting critical evaluation, and fostering violence normalization. Indoctrination plays a significant role in exerting psychological pressure on children to join armed groups or forces, and its methods can range from formal education to military-oriented summer camps, mass media, and online networks.
The involvement of children as combatants in conflict situations not only jeopardizes their own well-being and development but also poses a threat to the prospects of peace and stability in affected regions. Children exposed to violence during their formative years are at risk of becoming agents of violence themselves, hindering their potential as contributors to lasting peace. Conflict-affected children suffer enduring mental and physical trauma, with child soldiers experiencing even greater levels of violence as witnesses and perpetrators. This trauma can manifest in various disorders, impacting their mental health, behavior, and education. The consequences of children's trauma extend beyond their individual experiences, profoundly shaping communities and societies. Transgenerational effects are observed, with former child soldiers more likely to exhibit violent behavior and trauma potentially being passed down to their children, perpetuating a cycle of violence and contributing to ongoing conflicts. Recognizing the broader impact and intergenerational nature of child soldiering highlights the urgent need to address this issue as a means to break the cycle of violence and promote sustainable peace.
For the full report, press here