In light of the aggression launched by the Israeli occupation army against the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, the new Minister of Defense, Yisrael Katz, issued a decision to stop the use of the administrative detention law against settlers involved in acts of violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.
Minister Katz justifies the issuance of the law by saying that “the Jewish state is exposed to Palestinian terrorist threats, and that unjustified international sanctions are imposed against the settlers in addition to the administrative detention law, which is a strict measure against the residents of the settlement.”
Katz’s decision was welcomed by the Ministers of Internal Security, Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, as it lifts legal threats against settler violence, which has been increasing on a large scale since the Al-Aqsa flood attack.
The Administrative Detention Law is primarily used against Palestinians as a tool of deterrence, as it allows the Israeli army to arrest people without accountability or public trial, based on “secret information” that cannot be accessed by the detainees or their lawyers.
While the number of Palestinian prisoners under administrative sentences is 3,343, only 16 administrative detention orders were issued against settlers during the era of former Defense Minister Yoav Galant, and 7 of them are still in detention, according to the Times of Israel.
Dangerous decision
The Palestinian reaction came in a statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in which it said that the Israeli decision encourages settlers to commit more crimes against the Palestinians and practice terrorism against them, adding that it views with great seriousness the decision issued against the settlers “who commit crimes and violations against Palestinian citizens.”
As for the head of the Commission for Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners’ Affairs in Palestine, Qaddoura Fares, he commented on the decision as indicating “the occupation’s recklessness and its condescension over the international system and its formations,” pointing to the increasing crimes of settlers against the Palestinians, represented by burning their vehicles, attacking them in their homes, stealing their crops, and preventing them from reaching their lands by force of arms. .
For his part, Arab Knesset member Ahmed Tibi posted on his VX page that “the decision is a kosher certificate (referring to Jewish halal food certificates) from the Minister of Defense for Jewish terrorism, and then they complain about The Hague, as a government that supports terrorism.”
In turn, the “Teg Meir” organization – which fights hate crimes, racism and incitement in the name of the Jewish religion – confirmed that Katz ignored the political and security damage that could befall Israel as a result of stopping the use of administrative detention warrants, which makes Palestinian blood and property permissible.
Civilian security arm
Human rights reports believe that, in light of the enormous pressure on the army and police, the occupation government is seeking to reduce the burden on the military system by informally recruiting settlers to carry out their attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank, as it grants them freedom of movement with security protection under government cover, with immunity that keeps them away from any legal accountability.
The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories affirmed that “settler violence is part of an Israeli government policy that the official forces of the state permit, enable its implementation and participate in, as part of the strategy of the Israeli apartheid regime seeking to expand and complete the process of seizing Palestinian lands.”
The center continues in a file called “Settlers’ Violence Equals State Violence” that the occupation government, with the escalation of political and military pressure on it, deliberately turned the settlers little by little into a deterrent security arm against the Palestinians, and as part of a military force complementary to the army, and a backbone of the system of oppression in the West Bank. .
A report published by Haaretz newspaper stated that official matters related to the settlements have become almost completely in the hands of the settlers, adding that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has entrusted wide-ranging powers to Minister Smotrich, so he has great influence on the daily lives of settlers and Palestinians alike.
Smotrich, in turn, appointed his close ally, Yehuda Eliyahu, to lead the newly formed settlement administration, in addition to appointing the extremist settler, Hillel Roth, as deputy head of the civil administration, which the newspaper considered a blatant indication of actual annexation and the transfer of powers from the army to the settlers’ authority.
The newspaper’s report considered that the decision is not just a circumstantial response, but rather represents part of a systematic policy preceded by a series of measures and facilities provided and provided by Israel to the settlers.
This was demonstrated by openly arming the settlers and training them, and this increased after Ben Gvir launched a campaign to arm them at the end of last year, under the pretext of providing them with protection from Palestinian attacks.
It also appeared through the policy of turning a blind eye to crimes committed by settlers against Palestinians, as they were involved in tasks ranging from protecting settlements to carrying out attacks on neighboring Palestinian villages.
Acknowledgment of racism
In a broader context, this approach reflects a racist dimension against the Palestinians, through which the settlers enjoy full legal and security protection, while the Palestinians are treated as a permanent security threat. In his response to the decision, Smotrich says that Katz “abolished the long-standing discrimination against the settlers, and put an end to the injustice that “The settlers come in second place.”
Thus, administrative detention, which is widely used against Palestinians even in cases of unproven suspicions, is abolished when it comes to settlers, and this discrimination and description of the Palestinian as a second-class citizen reveals the reality of apartheid administered by Israel in the West Bank, where it practices dual policies that grant settlers… Privileges at the expense of Palestinian rights.
Lawyer Michael Sfard, legal advisor to the Yesh Din volunteer human rights organization, describes Katz’s decision as “an act of apartheid” and that he is ashamed of a policy that completely discriminates in favor of those whose mothers were Jewish.
Sfard stressed that the decision not only represents a racist policy, but also involves an invalid policy from an administrative point of view, as “administrative detention must be the product of individual considerations made in relation to the danger posed by a particular person, and the policy that comprehensively decides whether or not to use it.” The basis of a person’s identity precludes this consideration and introduces an externality.”
According to Professor Barak Medina from the Hebrew University, the Israeli Supreme Court allowed discrimination. For example, Israel follows a policy of home demolitions when it comes to Palestinian homes, and completely refrains from demolishing the homes of Jewish terrorists.
He added: “The court rejected the petitions against this discriminatory policy, on the basis that demolition of the house is not a punishment but rather a means to deter others from committing a terrorist act, and when it comes to Jews, there is sufficient deterrence due to the fact that the community in which the potential attacker lives does not encourage “Terrorism.”
A front in the West Bank
Commenting on the decision, former Israeli Army Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot warned that this step would push towards a dangerous escalation in the West Bank for which they would all pay the price.
He said that the Internal Security Agency (Shin Bet) was submitting reports to the army regarding the arrest of settlers involved in acts of violence against Palestinians previously, but after this decision, every settler is free in his dealings with everything Palestinian.
International sanctions did not deter Israel to prevent settlers from carrying out violence against the Palestinians, but rather made them more determined to open a front to remedy the situation in the West Bank, in light of the army’s preoccupation with the war on Gaza in the south and Lebanon in the north.
In its latest report, the United Nations Office for Humanitarian Affairs recorded more than 300 incidents related to settlers in the West Bank, between October 1 and November 4.
Therefore, the decision turned the West Bank into a scene of unprecedented escalation, in which Israel excessively used force, whether through the army or through armed settlers whom the government previously supported security-wise and now supports security-wise and judicially.
