Israel is taking action against terror suspects in the West Bank with the controversial administrative detention. In the future it will only be available for Palestinians – no longer for Israeli settlers.
The approval of the new Defense Minister Israel Katz's decision to lift the so-called administrative detention of Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank has been unanimously welcomed in the camp of the ruling Likud party of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing extremist coalition partners Bezahel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir.
What is administrative detention?
As part of administrative detention, suspects are held for six months or longer for security reasons. This is the case if those affected are associated with a crime, but there is not enough evidence to charge them. Lawyers complain that the detention in such cases is based on secret information and that they therefore have little power to counter it.
Administrative detention does not exist in Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has already considered it to combat crime in the Arab community.
Source: dpa
This will correct long-standing “mistreatment” and restore “justice for all who love the country,” said Ben Gvir, who is minister of national security and lives in the settlement of Kiryat Arba near Hebron. The new defense minister has “removed long-standing discrimination against settlers and put an end to injustice,” said Finance Minister Smotrich, who also lives in one of the oldest settlements, Kedumim, in the occupied West Bank. “Draconian and undemocratic measures” were used against the settlers.
“The Administratively was used politically”
Ben Gvir's party colleague, Knesset member Limor Son Har Melech, made no secret of her stance on the KAN radio station. So, the moderator wanted to know, was it okay to arrest Palestinians and hold them in custody without trial – but there could never be a Jewish person who wanted to carry out a terrorist attack? There have been such cases, he argued.
The MP replied that she knew of no such case. And if there are cases, there will be criminal proceedings. “There is no symmetry between a few sporadic cases and the murderous terrorism that Jewish citizens experience and from which we suffer. These sporadic cases can be treated in other ways.” The administrative detention was used politically. “Everyone knew this, but they were silent. But today people are standing up.”
Secret service and ex-generals criticize decision
After the Hamas massacre on October 7th, violence by extremist settlers against the Palestinian population increased massively. There were regular arson attacks on houses and cars, night raids and entire olive groves being cut down. The U.S. government then imposed sanctions on some settler militant leaders.
The fact that Yoav Gallant's successor, Defense Minister Katz, has now exempted all settlers from administrative detention has been massively criticized by the Israeli domestic secret service and former generals. The Shin Bet boss Ronen Bar had warned in vain: This would cause “immediate, serious damage” to the security of the state. Former Chief of General Staff Gadi Eisenkot spoke of a “serious and dangerous mistake.” This is a further step towards escalation in the West Bank.
Former General Giora Eiland, one of the country's fiercest security policy hardliners, said on Israeli radio, “Of course it remains a purely theoretical problem if there are no Jews planning terrorist attacks. But unfortunately we have to assume that there are the means of administrative detention is very important and necessary.” For years, the method was used correctly, “regardless of who was the defense minister,” said Eiland. “I therefore find the defense minister's decision very strange, populist and even dangerous.”
Detention without charge only applies to Palestinians
In the future, the controversial instrument of administrative detention will only be used against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. This means they can be detained for six, twelve and often significantly more months, usually without trial or access to allegations made against them.
According to the Israeli prison administration, around 3,400 Palestinians are currently in administrative detention.
