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Israel passes law to detain extremist suspects for years – without trial Israel sparks outcry by adopting widespread detention without trial 'to fight extremism'
(about 11 hours later)
The Israeli government has announced it will have “zero tolerance” for Jewish extremists following a surge of fanatical attacks which have left two children dead. In the aftermath of an arson attack that killed an 18-month-old Palestinian boy in the occupied West Bank, Israel is set to resort to a controversial tactic seldom before deployed against its Jewish citizens: detention without trial.
Israel’s security cabinet approved strict new measures on Sunday against Israelis who attack Palestinians, which include “administrative detention” for far-right Jewish suspects under which detainees can be held for months or years without charges to help curb "fanaticism and terrorism”. Administrative detention has been widely used against Palestinians over the years, and government officials say the decision late Sunday to widen its use shows Jewish violence against Arabs will now be combated with as much vigour as Arab violence against Jews.
The measures come after suspected Jewish extremists set fire to a Palestinian home in the West Bank on Friday killing an 18-month-old child and the death of 16-year-old Shira Banki, who died after being stabbed by an ultra-orthodox Jew at a gay pride parade in Jerusalem on Thursday. “This indicates our determination to fight terrorism and defeat terrorism regardless of where it comes from,” said Mark Regev, spokesman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu In a statement Israel’s security cabinet said it had called on the security agencies “to take all necessary steps to apprehend those responsible and prevent similar acts”. But Israel’s liberal opposition has criticised the move, with the MK Zahava Galon yesterday saying administrative detentions “negate due process of law”. Supporters have countered that the tool could give authorities a much needed advantage in a long overdue battle against extremists seen now as threatening Israel’s stability and image.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was united against “the criminals among our people”.  Toddler Ali Dawabsha’s father, mother and brother were yesterday still fighting for their lives after the Friday night petrol bombing of their home in Duma village which killed the 18-month old. The attack prompted Israeli President Reuven Rivlin to admit that authorities have been “lax” about preventing anti-Palestinian violence.
He said: “We are determined to vigorously fight manifestations of hate, fanaticism and terrorism from whatever side. This is a matter of basic humanity and is at the foundation of our enlightened Jewish values.” Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Of 1,067 complaints filed with the police about violence against Palestinians and their property over the last decade, only 74 indictments were issued. The overwhelming majority have not led to convictions, according to Yesh Din, an Israeli NGO. The cases included shootings, beatings, arson, theft and vandalism, attempted land seizures and attacks on mosques.
Palestinians protest against the death of the 18-month-old child killed in an arson attack in the West Bank According to the Jewish Chronicle an estimated 10,000 people attended a rally in Jerusalem in protest of the attacks and to warn against the radicalized violence growing from certain fringes of the country’s religious community.  The big question now is whether the blind eye turned by successive governments to Jewish attacks is going to be reversed. “In the past they let it pass because they didn’t think it was terribly serious for Israel’s international standing or that it would have a big effect on Palestinian actions,” said Leslie Susser, political editor of the Jerusalem Report magazine. “The fact that it was causing grief to Palestinians didn’t particularly bother them.”
Crowds also gathered in central Zion Square on Sunday to rally against the violence after news broke that the teenage girl, Banki, had died of her wounds. But Mr Susser believes that Friday’s attack has changed attitudes. He cites as proof the use by Mr Netanyahu and other leaders of the direct term “Jewish terrorism” to describe the tragedy. He also believes the decision to start using administrative detentions against Jews is a sign of real change.
Banki was one of six people wounded in Thursday’s attack, which took place after Schissel had just been released after spending 10 years in prison for carrying out a similar attack at a gay pride parade in 2005. Palestinians protest against the death of the 18-month-old child killed in an arson attack in the West Bank “We’re seeing a turning point in which people realize [attacks on Palestinians] could lead to Arab violence on a large scale and harm Israel’s standing,” he said.
On Sunday night a joint Israeli and Palestinian prayer vigil was held in the west Bank, advocating Israeli-Palestinian coexistence. But Ms Galon, leader of the Meretz party, told The Independent that administrative detentions are not the way to deal with the problem, regardless of who they are used against. “Holding people without trial opens the door to very flagrant abuses of human rights,” she said.
Ziad Zabateen, a Palestinian from Bethlehem said: “We have to look to be neighbours in a good way and to believe that the path to peace is the right one.” Nearly 400 Palestinians are currently in administrative detention, according to rights groups. Technically the detentions need to be approved by a judge within eight days, but the process is rigged against detainees, whose lawyers are not allowed to see the evidence against them or even know what they are suspected of. Orders, which are issued initially for up to six months, can be renewed indefinitely.
“We have no other choice; we have to live together without problems, without violence, without terror, without anything.” Sahar Francis, a lawyer who heads the Palestinian human rights group ad-Dameer, says administrative detention is used to silence opposition against the occupation. “In many cases detainees are people working for human rights organisations, civil society organisations, or students whose activities are in universities,” she says. Six elected members of the Palestinian Legislative Council are currently in administrative detention, she says. The head of ad-Dameer’s legal unit, Ayman Nasser, is in administrative detention for the second time.
Additional reporting by Associated Press Israeli army spokesman Lt. Col Peter Lerner and justice ministry officials did not respond to queries for this article.
But Brig-Gen. (reserves) Gadi Zohar, the chairman of the Peace and Security Association, a grouping of hundreds of former army and security officers, said that administrative detentions under judicial supervision could help combat Jewish violence against Palestinians. “You can have intelligence about an attack, but turning that into evidence for a court is not simple because it would mean exposing your source,” he said.
Still, Mr Zohar remains doubtful that the Netanyahu government will really tackle the problem of Jewish terrorism. A report by the association a year and a half ago calling for coordination of all the security bodies to combat settler violence was ignored, he said. “From what we’ve seen until today it doesn’t look like the prime minister has the necessary determination to deal with this and that is a great shame because it can set the whole region on fire,” Mr Zohar said.