The US State Department has returned Israel to Tier 1, the highest category in its annual Trafficking in Persons Report, after five consecutive years in Tier 2.
The 2026 report, published Thursday and covering government efforts from April 1, 2025, through March 31, 2026, found that the Israeli government fully meets the US minimum standards for eliminating human trafficking and recorded several key achievements during the reporting period.
The report said police opened 42 trafficking investigations in 2025, including 33 involving sex trafficking and nine involving forced labor, more than double the 20 investigations opened in 2024.
It said prosecutors also charged 19 alleged traffickers, compared with 13 the previous year. The State Department highlighted what it described as a February 2026 indictment against an employer accused of the forced labor of numerous foreign workers, the first such indictment in more than a decade.
However, the report also identified significant continuing shortcomings. It said courts convicted six traffickers during the reporting period, down from 11 in 2024, and recorded no forced-labor convictions. Of the nine sentences imposed, five included at least one year in prison.
US recognizes Israel's progress against human trafficking
The State Department concluded that Israel had not adequately held labor traffickers criminally accountable.
The report said the government officially recognized 90 trafficking victims in 2025, down from 115 the previous year. It credited Israel with formalizing procedures for identifying Palestinian trafficking victims, increasing funding for victim-protection services and expanding the number of labor inspectors.
At the same time, nongovernmental organizations cited in the report said the government continued to apply a high evidentiary threshold when deciding whether to recognize victims, sometimes requiring third-party witnesses and retraumatizing applicants. The organizations said foreign and Palestinian victims remained under-recognized and that government services were difficult to access outside Tel Aviv.
The report also warned that Israel’s increased reliance on private agencies to recruit foreign workers had left workers vulnerable to exploitation and debt bondage.
According to a government-commissioned study cited in the report, 73% of surveyed construction workers recruited privately had paid more than $4,000 in recruitment fees, while approximately 20% said their employers had taken their passports or other documents.
Nongovernmental organizations cited by the State Department said some foreign workers had paid illegal recruitment fees exceeding $25,000.
Enforcement against trafficking for prostitution, protection of victims remains deficient
Separately, a State Comptroller report published in July found that police translated only 44% of their already limited intelligence on trafficking in persons into operational activity in 2024. The comptroller said enforcement against trafficking for prostitution, protection of victims, and treatment services remained deficient and incomplete.
Under the State Department’s methodology, governments are placed in four categories: Tier 1, Tier 2, the Tier 2 Watch List and Tier 3. The rankings measure government efforts to combat trafficking rather than the prevalence of trafficking within each country.
Tier 1 means that a government meets the minimum standards established under the US Trafficking Victims Protection Act, enacted in October 2000, shortly before the UN General Assembly adopted the Palermo Protocol against human trafficking.
Previous State Department reports show that Israel held a Tier 1 ranking from 2012 through 2020. It was downgraded in 2021 after the department found that its efforts were not sufficiently serious and sustained, and remained in Tier 2 through the 2025 report.
In a statement issued Thursday, the Justice Ministry welcomed the upgrade and highlighted the increase in investigations, expanded victim services, additional inspectors and the establishment of dedicated police and prosecution positions.
“We have received full recognition of Israel’s status as one of the world’s leading countries in the fight against human trafficking,” Justice Minister Yariv Levin said.
“I thank all the partners in this work, who joined forces toward the important goal of combating human trafficking, preventing exploitation and ensuring proper protection and assistance for those harmed by this serious phenomenon.”
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar also welcomed the decision in a post on X, saying he was “proud to see Israel return to Tier 1.”
Sa’ar thanked US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the State Department “for recognizing Israel’s unwavering commitment to the highest standards in the fight against human trafficking.”
“Israel is determined to combat this abhorrent phenomenon, protect its victims, and hold perpetrators accountable,” he wrote.