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| Israel to detain Jewish terror suspects without trial | |
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| Israel has announced it intends to detain Jewish terror suspects without trial as the prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, vowed “zero tolerance” in the wake of an arson attack that killed a Palestinian toddler. | Israel has announced it intends to detain Jewish terror suspects without trial as the prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, vowed “zero tolerance” in the wake of an arson attack that killed a Palestinian toddler. |
| The defence minister, Moshe Ya’alon, said on Sunday he had instructed the Shin Bet security service, police and military to apply so-called “administrative detention” on rightwing Jewish citizens suspected of involvement in terror attacks against Palestinians as a direct response to the firebombing in the West Bank village of Duma that left 18-month-old Ali Dawabsheh dead and critically injured his brother and parents. | The defence minister, Moshe Ya’alon, said on Sunday he had instructed the Shin Bet security service, police and military to apply so-called “administrative detention” on rightwing Jewish citizens suspected of involvement in terror attacks against Palestinians as a direct response to the firebombing in the West Bank village of Duma that left 18-month-old Ali Dawabsheh dead and critically injured his brother and parents. |
| Related: Death of 18-month-old in arson attack heightens tensions in West Bank | Related: Death of 18-month-old in arson attack heightens tensions in West Bank |
| Thousands of Israelis took to the streets over the weekend to protest the attacks and warn against a radicalised and violent fringe growing from within the country’s religious community. On Thursday, an ultra-Orthodox Jew stabbed revellers at a Gay Pride parade in Jerusalem. Yishai Schlissel also stabbed marchers at the event in 2005 and had only recently been released from jail. | Thousands of Israelis took to the streets over the weekend to protest the attacks and warn against a radicalised and violent fringe growing from within the country’s religious community. On Thursday, an ultra-Orthodox Jew stabbed revellers at a Gay Pride parade in Jerusalem. Yishai Schlissel also stabbed marchers at the event in 2005 and had only recently been released from jail. |
| Israel currently applies administrative detention solely to Palestinians and its extension to Israelis reflects the government’s frustration at the failure to track down the assailants. No suspects have been arrested in connection with Friday’s arson attack and no group has claimed responsibility. | Israel currently applies administrative detention solely to Palestinians and its extension to Israelis reflects the government’s frustration at the failure to track down the assailants. No suspects have been arrested in connection with Friday’s arson attack and no group has claimed responsibility. |
| A senior security official told Israeli Radio on Sunday “there is no choice but to treat suspects of hate crimes against Palestinians the same way as Palestinian suspects of terror”. | A senior security official told Israeli Radio on Sunday “there is no choice but to treat suspects of hate crimes against Palestinians the same way as Palestinian suspects of terror”. |
| Administrative detention allows for arrests without charges and enables the incarceration of suspects for undefined periods of time without sufficient evidence to try them. It theoretically allows investigators to gather evidence while preventing further attacks, but Israel has been accused of abusing the procedure to keep militants behind bars without trial. | Administrative detention allows for arrests without charges and enables the incarceration of suspects for undefined periods of time without sufficient evidence to try them. It theoretically allows investigators to gather evidence while preventing further attacks, but Israel has been accused of abusing the procedure to keep militants behind bars without trial. |
| If enforced, the move will give Israeli officials far more leeway to arrest Jewish citizens suspected of being involved in the attack in Duma and potentially other so-called “price tag” attacks – where graffiti is left at the site of the attack – and other hate crimes against Palestinians. | If enforced, the move will give Israeli officials far more leeway to arrest Jewish citizens suspected of being involved in the attack in Duma and potentially other so-called “price tag” attacks – where graffiti is left at the site of the attack – and other hate crimes against Palestinians. |
| “As always, each case of administrative detention will have to be approved by the courts, but by invoking this the minister is taking action consistent with his effort to exact the full measure of the law against these people,” a spokesman for Ya’alon told Reuters. | “As always, each case of administrative detention will have to be approved by the courts, but by invoking this the minister is taking action consistent with his effort to exact the full measure of the law against these people,” a spokesman for Ya’alon told Reuters. |
| Under international law administrative detention is allowed only in extreme circumstances, as the last means available for preventing potential crimes, but over the years Israel has applied it extensively, holding thousands of Palestinians in jail without charge for years at a time. According to the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem, 5,442 Palestinians were in detention without trial as of June. | Under international law administrative detention is allowed only in extreme circumstances, as the last means available for preventing potential crimes, but over the years Israel has applied it extensively, holding thousands of Palestinians in jail without charge for years at a time. According to the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem, 5,442 Palestinians were in detention without trial as of June. |
| Ali’s uncle, Nasser Dawabsheh, called on the Israeli government to protect the Palestinian population in the West Bank in an address to a rally in Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square on Saturday night. “They burned a family that was sleeping quietly, a family that does not believe in violence,” he said. | Ali’s uncle, Nasser Dawabsheh, called on the Israeli government to protect the Palestinian population in the West Bank in an address to a rally in Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square on Saturday night. “They burned a family that was sleeping quietly, a family that does not believe in violence,” he said. |
| “Netanyahu expressed his condolences but we ask for protection for Duma and for other Palestinian villages. Why was Ali killed? He was 18 months old, what did he do? What did he do to the settlers? We ask that this [incident] mark the end of the suffering of our people.” | “Netanyahu expressed his condolences but we ask for protection for Duma and for other Palestinian villages. Why was Ali killed? He was 18 months old, what did he do? What did he do to the settlers? We ask that this [incident] mark the end of the suffering of our people.” |
| Ali’s grandfather Hussein, whose daughter Reham is still in a critical condition in Tel Hashomer hospital after sustaining third-degree burns over 90% of her body, told Israel Radio on Sunday morning that he did not want “to enter another cycle of violence”. He said four-year-old Ahmad’s condition had improved and he had regained consciousness. | Ali’s grandfather Hussein, whose daughter Reham is still in a critical condition in Tel Hashomer hospital after sustaining third-degree burns over 90% of her body, told Israel Radio on Sunday morning that he did not want “to enter another cycle of violence”. He said four-year-old Ahmad’s condition had improved and he had regained consciousness. |
| Netanyahu said at the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday morning that he has instructed security and law-enforcement officials to “use all legal means at their disposal” to apprehend the assailants. “We are determined to vigorously fightmanifestations of hate, fanaticism and terrorism from whatever side,” he said. | Netanyahu said at the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday morning that he has instructed security and law-enforcement officials to “use all legal means at their disposal” to apprehend the assailants. “We are determined to vigorously fightmanifestations of hate, fanaticism and terrorism from whatever side,” he said. |
| In recent years there have been hundreds of cases of “price tag” attacks and other incidents of settler violence, with almost no indictments filed – 17 churches and mosques have been set ablaze by Jewish extremists in the past four years, yet not a single person has been arrested. | In recent years there have been hundreds of cases of “price tag” attacks and other incidents of settler violence, with almost no indictments filed – 17 churches and mosques have been set ablaze by Jewish extremists in the past four years, yet not a single person has been arrested. |
| Netanyahu last year rejected a proposal to deem perpetrators of “price tag” attacks as members of a terrorist organisation and to allow for their administrative detention, but they were deemed to be “illegal organisations”, which gives security officials more authority to monitor suspects. | Netanyahu last year rejected a proposal to deem perpetrators of “price tag” attacks as members of a terrorist organisation and to allow for their administrative detention, but they were deemed to be “illegal organisations”, which gives security officials more authority to monitor suspects. |
| He implied at the time such measures were out of the question since it would mean Jewish terrorists were somehow comparable to terror groups such as Hamas or Islamic Jihad. | He implied at the time such measures were out of the question since it would mean Jewish terrorists were somehow comparable to terror groups such as Hamas or Islamic Jihad. |