Controversial Legislation Aims To Employ Administrative Detention Against Israeli Citizens

Israeli government pushes legislation allowing administrative detention of citizens, a tool previously reserved for suspected terrorists, to combat escalating crime

The Israeli government on Sunday was set to promote legislation that would allow for the use of administrative detention of Israeli citizens.

The use of such a tool, normally only used against non-Israeli citizens suspected of terrorist activities, is meant to help combat soaring crime levels amongst the Arab Israeli population in the country. In addition, the government wants to enlist the Shin Bet security agency, charged with combatting terrorism, in its fight against crime.

The bill, proposed by the far-right Otzma Yehudit party, would authorize National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, leader of the party, or the police chief to arrest Israeli citizens and keep them in custody without trial.

“Our goal is to increase the direct involvement of the Shin Bet,” said Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu at the opening of the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday. “We will do this responsibly and make necessary amendments to the law. The goal is to bring results within the coming year.”

According to reports in Israeli media, the Shin Bet is against such legislation and will voice its opposition to the relevant ministers.

Data collected by Abraham Initiatives, a nongovernmental organization that promotes Jewish-Arab coexistence, shows that over 100 Arab citizens were killed in violence since the beginning of this year.

One of the election promises made by the current government was to reign in crime levels and bring back the governance they said had eroded in recent years. Netanyahu appointed hard-liner Ben-Gvir whose election campaign was based on that promise. But since he has been sworn in, violence has been raging at rates higher than in previous years. From domestic violence to gang wars, children and other uninvolved people have also been caught in the crossfire, sometimes paying with their lives.

We have been suffering from this problem for years and we have been demanding solutions and nothing has happened. There is no hope and there is a lot of very real fear.

“We have been suffering from this problem for years and we have been demanding solutions and nothing has happened,” said Rula Daood, national co-director of Standing Together, an NGO that describes itself as a grassroots movement mobilizing Jewish and Palestinian citizens of Israel in pursuit of peace, equality, and social and climate justice. “There is no hope and there is a lot of very real fear,” she says.

“There is a very bad feeling of lack of personal safety that no one seems to care about,” she added.

Arab Israeli citizens make up about 20% of the population. Crime rates in Arab communities are much higher than those in Jewish communities. Arabs face widespread, often institutionalized discrimination. While they have the right to vote, their daily lives are considerably different than those of the Jewish majority.

Arab cities and villages are markedly neglected, with lagging infrastructure and run-down schools. Arab residents of Israel are often discriminated against in the workforce; they have a lower participation rate, get fewer opportunities, and on average also have lower salaries than Jewish Israelis.

Many Arabs feel abandoned by the Israeli establishment. The placement of Ben-Gvir in charge of their security has only increased the feeling of insecurity. A firebrand politician, he has a long history of anti-Arabic rhetoric, including convictions of incitement to racism and support for a terrorist organization. He is also an attorney who has frequently represented Jews suspected of terrorism and hate crimes against Arabs.

“We all know Ben-Gvir’s politics,” Daood told The Media Line. “He doesn’t want to help Arab society.”

The use of administrative detention is already controversial. It is a measure used in several countries, usually under very narrow pretenses. In Israel, it is a measure that can only be exercised by the defense minister and military officials against terror suspects. Individuals in such detention can be held without charge for up to six months each time. The arrest can be extended indefinitely. This allows military prosecutors to avoid making public the evidence they have.

“Many of the most enlightened democracies use administrative detention in cases when there is a threat to national security and the evidence cannot be proven in court,” said Yehuda Shaffer, former deputy state attorney of Israel.

The main concern is that Ben-Gvir will be the individual with this authority. He is a person whose knowledge of the law derives mainly from the side of the offender.

Shaffer suggests a limited use of the detention, under house arrest with electronic monitoring and not in a detention facility.

“It seems the main concern is that Ben-Gvir will be the individual with this authority,” he said. “He is a person whose knowledge of the law derives mainly from the side of the offender. Someone else should be appointed for this, for example, a retired judge subject to additional judicial review.”

“It is not an unfounded concept, but with the proper checks and balances,” Shaffer added.

It is an offensive arrangement that topples the founding principles of criminal law and the protection of human rights. The basis of these drastic and offensive measures are intelligence information and confidential evidence, that cannot be dealt with in a true manner on the part of those harmed by these measures.

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel published a policy paper against the move.

“It is an offensive arrangement that topples the founding principles of criminal law and the protection of human rights,” read the paper. “The basis for these drastic and offensive measures is intelligence information and confidential evidence that cannot be dealt with in a true manner on the part of those harmed by these measures.”

According to Rula Daood, the insertion of the Shin Bet into the pressing matter will only widen the already great gap between Arabs and Jews.

“This would be a mistake that would only lead to the stripping of even more rights from the Arab population,” she said.

The current coalition has promised to take widespread measures to lower the crime rates.

“There is a limit to what criminal law can achieve,” Shaffer said. “In the economic field, there is a need to use administrative and civil law because the criminal bar of proof, which is to prove a crime beyond a reasonable doubt, is extremely challenging, especially when most of the evidence collected is inadmissible.”

Some of the main engines of crime in the Arab sector are organized crime, protection rackets, and money laundering. Limited access to banks and loans pushes many Arabs to interact with crime families. Such interactions can often spiral into criminal activity and violence. According to Shaffer, laws are needed that will enable authorities to confiscate money without the high criminal burden of proof. Some of the laws are currently in the midst of the legislation process.

Another challenge is the very low percentage of cases solved by the police, a testament to the low priority given to them by the police, but also to the lack of cooperation of the Arab population with law enforcement. The distrust between the sides is almost insurmountable.

“Complaints to police are left untreated, there are no cases opened, and barely any people are arrested,” said Daood. “It is just a lack of effort; no one wants to try.”

The efforts of the government to tackle the vicious crime wave come part and parcel with its intentions to overhaul the judicial system. The proposed reforms have caused massive unrest in the country. Critics say the move will weaken Israeli democracy. For them, the use of administrative detention for citizens is a slippery slope, part of a larger effort to make Israel’s version of democracy slimmer. Proponents of the reforms say they are needed to rein in a far too activist legal system that meddles in government decision-making and policy implementation.

Murders and other violent incidents have become almost a daily occurrence in recent months. Parents are afraid to send their children by foot to school or allow them to play in public playgrounds for fear of being caught in the crossfire. The feeling is grim.

“We are at a very low point and things will only get worse with this government, but I do not have the privilege to give up,” said Daood.