Growing up in Jerusalem, Michael Sfard had no contact with Palestinians who lived just across the street from him in the Arab part of the city. In high school, he studied French and English, not Arabic. It was a fairly typical Israeli upbringing, largely insulated from the harsh realities of Israel's half century of rule over the Palestinians next door.

Yet since opening his own law practice, Sfard has emerged as one of the most effective defenders of Palestinian rights, arguing and winning high-profile cases in Israel's Supreme Court. Major victories include forcing the government to dismantle a large rogue settlement in the West Bank and rerouting Israel's separation barrier along some stretches to restore farmland to Palestinian villages.

The unlikely champion of the oppressed says he is trying to make Israel better, not advance the Palestinian national cause.

"I'm not a Palestinian freedom fighter," Sfard said. "I'm an Israeli human rights attorney who fights to strengthen human rights in Israel and in the territories it occupies and represents my clients the best I can."

It's an outsider's role in a country where a majority seems either indifferent to what happens in West Bank and east Jerusalem or supports the government's settlement expansion on the lands the Palestinians want for a state.