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Photos: Published by Haaretz
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz (left) and Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, in Gaza earlier this week. Credit: Maayan Toaf/ GPO.

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Israel Katz and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.Credit: Olivier Fitoussi

MK Zvi Sukkot, last week at the Knesset. Credit: Olivier Fitoussi
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by Hagar Shezaf, Jonathan Lis, and Noa Shpigel for Haaretz
Nov 22, 2024

Defense Minister Israel Katz announced on Friday that Israel will no longer use administrative detention – detention without trial – against Jewish settlers in the West Bank.

According to a statement released by the defense minister, who replaced ousted defense chief Yoav Gallant earlier this month, Katz informed Shin Bet Director Ronen Bar of the decision to stop using detention without trial earlier this week. The defense minister added that he requested that Bar find alternative steps that can be taken against suspects.

As of November 1, Israel is holding 3,451 suspects without detention. Eight are Jewish, while the rest are Palestinian.

"In a reality where Jewish settlement in the West Bank faces serious Palestinian terror threats and unjust international sanctions are imposed on settlers, it is not appropriate for the State of Israel to take such a severe step against settlers," Katz's statement read, "If there is suspicion of criminal activity, individuals can be prosecuted, and if not, other preventive measures can be taken without resorting to administrative detention."

Following the announcement, several coalition ministers and MKs reached out to the defense minister and asked that he revoke the detention without trial orders given to eight Jewish West Bank settlers. "These orders were signed too easily, out of political motives and due to political pressure, at the height of war," they wrote.

In July, the Knesset approved in a preliminary vote a bill that would effectively bar administrative detention, or detention without trial, for Jews, leaving it permissible only for Arabs.

The bill, sponsored by MK Simcha Rothman, states that administrative detention would be allowed only if there are "reasonable grounds for assuming" that the person belongs to a terrorist organization "whose goal is to undermine the existence of the state or commit terror against its citizens."

Suspects in administrative detention are held in Israeli prisons without being indicted for a crime, with the process being called "preventive detention for security purposes." Almost all of those being held without trial are Palestinian, and almost all of them are suspected of terror offenses.

Following Katz's announcement, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir praised the decision, calling it a "correction of a long-standing injustice." Right-wing MK Zvi Sukkot also commended Katz's decision, adding that West Bank settlers "aren't second-class citizens."

The head of Shomron Regional Council in the West Bank, Yossi Dagan, called the decision "an achievement for Israeli democracy," adding that the human rights of West Bank residents "will not be trampled upon."

Tag Meir, an Israeli organization battling hate crimes said that the minister's decision will enable attacks on Palestinians, given that the orders are "intended for targeting Jewish terrorism ... and retaliatory attacks against innocent Palestinians." Opposition MK Ahmad Tibi labeled Katz "the Minister of Defense for Jewish Terrorism" in response to the decision.