Ayelet Shaked

On 28 July 2026, Shaked gave an open witness statement to the Lahav 433 unit in the so-called "Nave Justice" investigation, centred on suspected quid pro quo arrangements between former Bar Association president Efi Nave and former Tel Aviv District Court president Eitan Orenstein. Orenstein's appointment had been decided while Shaked chaired the Judicial Selection Committee.

Attribution

Protagonist is a witness

As Interior Minister, Shaked decided to revoke the permanent East Jerusalem residency status of French-Palestinian Salah Hamouri for an alleged breach of allegiance. The decision led to his deportation to France in December 2022 after administrative detention. France condemned the measure, and the case subsequently prompted legal action and international criticism.

State of the evidence

Disputed

Attribution

Political responsibility

In November 2024, Australia refused Shaked a visa to participate in a strategic dialogue. Interior Minister Tony Burke explained that he had reviewed her previous statements concerning Palestinians and Gaza and did not wish to authorise a speaking tour that, in his view, might harm social cohesion.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Personally implicated

In November 2023, during an Israeli television interview, Shaked said that Khan Younis would be turned into a "football pitch" and proposed that foreign countries accept quotas of Gazans, stating that two million people needed to leave Gaza. Her remarks were cited by organisations and foreign authorities as examples of rhetoric considered dehumanising or supportive of mass displacement.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Personally implicated

As Interior Minister, Shaked defended the continuation and subsequent reinstatement of legislation largely preventing Palestinians from the West Bank or Gaza married to Israeli citizens from automatically obtaining residence or citizenship. Following the failure to renew the legislation in 2021, a new version was adopted in March 2022.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Political responsibility

During her tenure as Justice Minister, Shaked advocated an ideological transformation of the judiciary, notably through the appointment of more conservative judges and efforts to reduce what she regarded as Supreme Court activism. This strategy deeply polarised debate over judicial independence and the balance of powers.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Political responsibility

In March 2019, a satirical election advertisement by the New Right featured Shaked as the face of a perfume called "Fascism", while a voice listed her judicial reform priorities. The video sparked considerable controversy in Israel and abroad, with some arguing that the irony trivialised fascism or obscured the democratic message.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Personally implicated

In debates on the Basic Law defining Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people and on family reunification, Shaked defended the preservation of a Jewish majority and measures that, in her view, affirmed the state's Jewish character. Human rights organisations denounced her statements as placing national identity above equality and the rights of Palestinian citizens.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Political responsibility

As Justice Minister, Shaked promoted a law imposing enhanced disclosure obligations on NGOs receiving more than half their funding from foreign governments or political entities. The measure primarily affected human rights and left-wing organisations and was denounced as selective and stigmatising.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Political responsibility

In July 2014, Ayelet Shaked shared on Facebook an unpublished text by journalist Uri Elitzur describing the war with Palestinians in collective terms. An activist translation and subsequently several media outlets interpreted certain passages as likening Palestinian children to "little snakes" and as a call for collective violence, triggering international controversy.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Personally implicated