In 2006, HaMoked filed a lawsuit at the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court on behalf of a resident of East Jerusalem against the State of Israel for "alleged repeated arrests by the police and Shin Bet security service, unnecessary delays at checkpoints and abusive interrogations between 1996-1999".[4] The state attorney from the Tel Aviv prosecutor's office for civil matters submitted an official statement to the court that accused HaMoked and B'Tselem of being organizations that "undermine the existence" of Israel, "besmirch" Israel and its security forces, and "cause it damage in the world" adding that HaMoked "does not deal with 'defending human rights' as it claims, but instead with defending the rights of Palestinians only" and that its "self-presentation as 'a human rights organization' has no basis in reality and is designed to mislead".[4] HaMoked's director filed a complaint with the Attorney General and said that the state's document contained "unbridled attacks" on both organizations and on "the very notion of defending the human rights of Palestinians" adding that "Attacks by the state on human rights organizations active in it and on the sheer legitimacy of their existence pose a serious threat to democratic rule".[4] HaMoked demanded that a revised statement be filed by the state.[4] The state attorney's statements received support from Gerald M. Steinberg of NGO Monitor[5] and were criticized by Israeli historian and writer Tom Segev,[6] the New Israel Fund,[7] the Association for Civil Rights in Israel[8] and Israeli politician Zehava Gal-On.[8] Israel's State Prosecutor's Office dissociated itself from the state attorney's comments, and said they "reflect neither the prosecution's position nor the position of the state, and were not authorized" and that the "state's position has been and continues to be that HaMoked: Center for the Defense of the Individual and the B'Tselem organization are human rights organizations".[8] They confirmed that what they described as "inappropriate" comments would be excised and a revised version would be submitted to the court.[8]