Time to focus on investing in Israel's Arab sector - editorial

• Author: JPOST EDITORIAL
• Published date: 13 October 2021
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

KAN reporter Suleiman Maswadeh reported earlier this week that – along with suggestions such as involving the IDF and the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) – the police, Public Security Ministry, Justice Ministry and other senior legal and security officials are mulling the idea of using administrative detention to combat the deadly situation.

Administrative detention, a legal tool that has been used so far only in the West Bank – which is essentially still under military control – means that a suspect can be sent to prison, without an indictment or a trial, for a period of up to six months. This period can be extended and, according to the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, "an individual can be incarcerated for years without due process, without the suspicions being put to the test of a fair trial, and without the fundamental right of defending oneself against these suspicions."

This tool has mostly been used against Palestinians suspected of involvement in terrorism, as well as against a number of Jews who were suspected in terrorist attacks against Arabs.

After the report on this contemplated drastic measure, Public Security Minister Omer Bar Lev met with Ta'al MKs Ahmad Tibi and Osama Saadi at the Knesset and reassured them that "there will be no IDF involvement in the war against crime in the Arab sector." He was quoted as saying "the Shin Bet Law will not be changed, and there will be no administrative detentions."

Bar Lev's deputy, MK Yoav Segalovitz, tweeted on Monday that "as the person responsible for the battle against crime in the Arab sector on behalf of the government, and as someone who deals with changes in legislation on behalf of the Public Security Ministry, working with the Justice Ministry and the attorney-general – the issue of administrative arrests and the prevention of attorney-client meetings is not on the agenda."

Despite these denials, the issue is still making the rounds on social media and is discussed on the news, and it seems that it is not off the table at all.

This is the time to say that applying drastic measures such as administrative detention, sending IDF units into Israeli streets or using Shin Bet surveillance should be done...