Israeli DM rejects calls to reimpose administrative arrests for settlers

Left-wing lawmakers denounce Israeli vandals as “Jewish terrorists,” demand government bring back controversial policy of extrajudicial arrests for settlers following high-profile clashes between Israelis and Jews in Judea and Samaria.

By World Israel News Staff

Israel’s defense minister has refused to reimpose a controversial policy of using extrajudicial arrests against Israeli citizens living in Judea and Samaria following pressure from left-wing lawmakers after a string of high-profile incidents.

The Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee held a hearing Wednesday on security in Judea and Samaria, touching on a number of recent clashes between Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs living in the area, along with suspected acts of vandalism by Israelis.

During the closed-door meeting, MK Elazar Stern and MK Ram Ben-Barak, both members of the Yesh Atid faction, blasted Defense Minister Israel Katz’s (Likud) handling of riots and vigilantism by some members of the so-called “Hilltop Youth,” a small group of Israelis living in fledgling communities in Judea and Samaria.

“These are Jewish terrorists,” the Yesh Atid lawmakers insisted. “As long as no real action is taken, the situation will continue and even escalate.”

Stern and Ben-Barak demanded Katz reverse his decision to end the use of administrative arrest against Israeli citizens living in Judea and Samaria.

Based on an emergency measure passed by the British Mandatory government prior to Israel’s establishment, administrative arrests can be issued without trial or criminal charges for up to six months at a time.

While judges are able to review the orders after they are issued, a court decision is not involved in issuing the orders, which can be extended without limit.

Most administrative orders are used for suspected Palestinian Arab terrorists, though since the 1980s Israel has on occasion used the extrajudicial detentions against right-wing activists.

Katz suspended the policy of issuing administrative arrests against Israeli citizens in Judea and Samaria, arguing that traditional law enforcement mechanisms were better suited for dealing with suspected criminal plots.

Speaking at Wednesday’s hearing, Katz rejected calls from Ben-Barak and Stern to resume the use of administrative arrests against Israelis in Judea and Samaria, noting that no security agency had requested new administrative detentions.

“I stand behind the decision not to approve administrative detentions. This is not a political consideration or related to primaries. These are 70 young people from a radical group, out of 300 in a broader core, and 800 in total. No one – not the Shin Bet, not the police, not the IDF – has requested administrative detentions.”