High Follow-Up Committee (HFC)

Established in 1982, the High Follow-Up Committee (HFC) is an extra-parliamentary organisation that acts as a national coordinating and representative body for Palestinian citizens of Israel. Its membership is drawn from the National Council of the Heads of Arab Localities, the Arab political parties in the Knesset, Arab civil society organisations, and others. It is currently headed by Mohammad Barakeh, a former Knesset member for Hadash.

Decisions in the HFC are reached by consensus and organised through various sub-committees. In 2006, it facilitated the creation of the Future Vision Document, which articulated the Palestinian citizens’ demand for Israel to become a ‘state for all its citizens’. However, the HFC has been criticised in recent years for being ineffective and offering few actions aside from general strikes.

Israel refuses to recognise the HFC as a representative body, viewing it as an attempt to establish political autonomy outside of the state’s institutions; the subsequent pressure from Israeli authorities has prevented the HFC from renewing its leadership.