Israel has denied a visa for a Human Rights Watch researcher while accusing the group of spreading “Palestinian propaganda”.

A work permit request was filed for Omar Shakir, the group’s director for Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, in July but the refusal did not come for more than seven months.

A letter from Israel’s immigration authority said the application had been declined following a review, because of a recommendation by the country’s foreign ministry.

Israel has previously refused entry to pro-Palestinian activists and academics (Getty)

An English translation of the letter seen by The Independent said it “noted that, for some time now, this organisation’s public activities and reports have engaged in politics in the service of Palestinian propaganda, while falsely raising the banner of ’human rights’”.

Mr Shakir, an American citizen, said dismissing HRW’s extensive research “put Israel in a group with the most repressive states” it covers, including North Korea, Sudan, North Korea and Cuba, who have all blocked access.

Emmanuel Nahshon, a spokesperson for the Israeli foreign ministry, called HRW a “blatantly hostile anti-Israeli organisation whose reports have the sole purpose of harming Israel with no consideration whatsoever for the truth or reality”.

“Why should we give working visas to people whose only purpose is to besmirch us and to attack us?” he asked.

“We are not masochists and there is no reason we should keep doing that.”

But Mr Nahshon said the decision was connected solely to the group’s activities and had nothing to do with the ethnicity of Mr Shakir, who is of Iraqi descent.

There were fears the move signalled a wider policy against HRW and other organisations like Amnesty International, who Mr Nahshon said would be assessed on a case-by-case basis.

The Israeli–Palestinian conflict intensifies Show all 10 1 /10 The Israeli–Palestinian conflict intensifies The Israeli–Palestinian conflict intensifies Medics evacuate a wounded man from the scene of an attack in Jerusalem. A Palestinian rammed a vehicle into a bus stop then got out and started stabbing people before he was shot dead AP The Israeli–Palestinian conflict intensifies Israeli ZAKA emergency response members carry the body of an Israeli at the scene of a shooting attack in Jerusalem. A pair of Palestinian men boarded a bus in Jerusalem and began shooting and stabbing passengers, while another assailant rammed a car into a bus station before stabbing bystanders, in near-simultaneous attacks that escalated a month long wave of violence AP The Israeli–Palestinian conflict intensifies Youths attend the funeral of Ahmad Sharake who was shot during clashes with Israeli forces in Jelazun refugee camp, near Ramallah, West Bank. Tensions in the area continue to run high following a series of stabbing attacks that have occurred around Israel in clashes between Palestinian youths and Israeli security forces Getty Images The Israeli–Palestinian conflict intensifies Palestinians throw molotov cocktail during clashes with Israeli troops near Ramallah, West Bank. Recent days have seen a series of stabbing attacks in Israel and the West Bank that have wounded several Israelis AP The Israeli–Palestinian conflict intensifies Women cry during the funeral of Palestinian teenager Ahmad Sharaka, 13, who was shot dead by Israeli forces during clashes at a checkpoint near Ramallah, at the family house in the Palestinian West Bank refugee camp of Jalazoun, Ramallah AP The Israeli–Palestinian conflict intensifies A wounded Palestinian boy and his father hold hands at a hospital after their house was brought down by an Israeli air strike in Gaza Reuters The Israeli–Palestinian conflict intensifies Palestinians look on after a protester is shot by Israelis soldiers during clashes at the Howara checkpoint near the West Bank city of Nablus EPA The Israeli–Palestinian conflict intensifies A lawyer wearing his official robes kicks a tear gas canister back toward Israeli soldiers during a demonstration by scores of Palestinian lawyers called for by the Palestinian Bar Association in solidarity with protesters at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City, near Ramallah, West Bank AP The Israeli–Palestinian conflict intensifies Undercover Israeli soldiers detain a Palestinian in Ramallah Reuters The Israeli–Palestinian conflict intensifies Palestinian youth burn tyres during clashes with Israeli soldiers close to the Jewish settlement of Bet El, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, after Israel barred Palestinians from Jerusalem's Old City as tensions mounted following attacks that killed two Israelis and wounded a child

Mr Shakir said the letter was a “shock” as HRW staff have been given regular access to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories for almost three decades and frequently engage with Israeli authorities, including the military, police and foreign ministry.

The Stanford-educated lawyer has also done work on human rights in Egypt, Pakistan and at Guantanamo Bay detention camp, according to his biography.

HRW condemned claims it was “not a real human rights group”, saying the permit denial was the latest move to constrain the work of local and international human rights groups in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza.

“This decision and the spurious rationale should worry anyone concerned about Israel’s commitment to basic democratic values,” said Iain Levine, the group’s deputy executive director of programme.

“It is disappointing that the Israeli government seems unable or unwilling to distinguish between justified criticisms of its actions and hostile political propaganda.”

Mark Toner, a spokesperson for the US State Department, said American authorities did not agree with Israel’s assessment.

“HRW is a credible human rights organisation and even though we do not agree with all of their assertions or conclusions, given the seriousness of their efforts, we support the importance of the work they do,” he added.

Donald Trump has provoked controversy with his stance towards Israel, vowing to move the US embassy to Jerusalem, which both Israelis and Palestinians claim as their capital, and appointing a pro-settlement ambassador to Israel.

Protesters disrupt hearings for Israeli ambassador nominee

The New York-based group monitors human rights in over 90 countries, including nations throughout the Middle East and vowed to continue its work in Israel.

It has published a series of critical reports on Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, which has swung dramatically to the right in recent years with the addition of ultra-nationalists from the pro-settlement Jewish Home party to cabinet.

HRW’s world report accuses Israel of imposing “severe and discriminatory restrictions on Palestinians’ human rights” and facilitating the transfer of Israeli civilians to the occupied West Bank in a possible violation of international law.

It said the response to a wave of Palestinian stabbings, car rammings and shootings, as well as the killing of several demonstrators, constituted the excessive use of force and said Israel committed war crimes while bombing the Gaza Strip during the 2014 war.

But HRW also frequently highlights abuses by Palestinians, accusing internationally backed Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and the rival Hamas militant group in Gaza of arbitrarily detaining journalists and activists and torturing detainees.

It has also criticised executions carried out by Hamas and rocket attacks on Israel by the group and other militant factions.

Israel has long accused the group, as well as other human rights organisations, of focusing excessively and unfairly on it and failing to adequately recognise terrorist threats.