Israel’s DM Ends Administrative Detention for West Bank Settlers
Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz announced the cessation of administrative detention orders for Jewish settlers in the West Bank on Friday, marking a significant policy shift regarding the controversial practice of holding suspects without formal charges.
Katz, who met with Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar earlier this week, instructed security agencies to develop alternative tools for addressing suspected crimes by settlers, stating, “If there is suspicion of criminal acts, the perpetrators can be prosecuted, and if not, there are other preventive measures that can be taken.”
He continued: “In a reality where the Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria is subject to serious Palestinian terror threats and unjustified international sanctions are taken against the settlers, it is not appropriate for the State of Israel to take such a severe measure against the people of the settlements,” using the biblical, often politicized, term for the West Bank.
This holiday season, give to:
Truth and understanding
The Media Line's intrepid correspondents are in Israel, Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and Pakistan providing first-person reporting.
They all said they cover it.
We see it.
We report with just one agenda: the truth.
The decision comes amid heightened tensions in the West Bank following the October 7 Hamas attack. Settler violence against Palestinians has escalated, with rights groups criticizing a lack of arrests and prosecutions for such incidents. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), settler violence, intimidation, and harassment displaced 1,722 Palestinians, including 835 children, between October 7, 2023, and mid-November of this year. Just this past weekend, masked settlers reportedly set fire to buildings and a car in the village of Beit Furik near Nablus. No arrests have been made in connection with the attack.
Katz condemned violence against Palestinians and urged settlement leaders to publicly denounce such actions, appealing for stronger leadership to curb vigilante behavior. However, rights groups argue that the removal of administrative detention could weaken enforcement mechanisms against extremist settlers while leaving Palestinians increasingly vulnerable.
While Palestinians in the West Bank are subject to Article 285 of Military Order 1651, the Emergency Powers (Detentions) Law applies Israeli domestic law to Israeli citizens living beyond the 1967 Armistice border (also known as the Green Line).
Military Order 1651 empowers military commanders to detain individuals for renewable six-month periods based on “reasonable grounds” of a security threat. According to the law, detainees are supposed to be brought before a military court within eight days, where a judge can uphold, reject, or modify the detention period. However, these hearings are closed to the public, and detainees and their legal counsel are often denied access to the evidence against them, citing “regional or public security” concerns. Additionally, critics argue that because the term “security of the area or public security” is undefined, it leaves room for indefinite legal detention, and appeals to the Military Court of Appeals or even Israel’s High Court of Justice are rarely successful.
Meanwhile, Israeli domestic law states that detainees must be brought before a judge within 48 hours, and administrative detention orders cannot exceed three months without review.
As of June 2024, the Israel Prison Service (IPS) reported 3,340 Palestinians being held in administrative detention, including 85 children, while only nine Israeli settlers have been known to be detained since 1967, typically for a few months.
