Defense Minister Israel Katz announced an end to the use of administrative detention orders against Jews in the West Bank.
“In the current climate, where Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria face significant threats of Palestinian terrorism, supported by the Iranian axis of evil seeking to establish a terror front against Israel, and where international sanctions unfairly target settlers and settlement organizations, it is not appropriate for the State of Israel to take such a severe step,” Katz said on Friday.
Administrative detainees are in detention without trial for the security of the state or the public. The vast majority of them are Palestinian, and they can be held without trial and for varying amounts of time, which the state can extend.
Katz said that when there are suspicions of criminal activity, those responsible can and should be prosecuted.
But “if no criminal charges can be brought, other preventive measures must be employed that do not involve administrative detention,” he said. “I unequivocally condemn any acts of violence against Palestinians and taking the law into one’s own hands.”
Katz said it is critical to allow the IDF and other security forces to combat Palestinian terrorism and violence effectively, without individuals undermining the rule of law.
The decision was conveyed during a meeting with Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) chief Ronen Bar.
The defense minister is not expected to cancel current detention orders but will also not prolong them once they expire, Ynet reported.
Reactions to the decision
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich congratulated Katz “on his courageous and necessary decision.”
אני מברך את ידידי ושותפי, שר הביטחון ישראל כץ, על החלטה אמיצה ומתבקשת לבטל את השימוש בצווי מעצר מנהליים נגד מתיישבי יהודה ושומרון.בהחלטתו ביטל השר כץ אפליה ארוכת שנים נגד מתיישבי יהודה ושומרון ושם קץ לעוול במסגרתו המתיישבים היו אזרחים סוג ב' והופעלו כלפיהם אמצעים דרקונים ולא…
— בצלאל סמוטריץ' (@bezalelsm) November 22, 2024
Smotrich noted that Katz’s decision “abolished long-standing discrimination” and “put an end to the injustice in which settlers were second-class citizens, and draconian and undemocratic measures were applied against them that trampled on their rights, measures that are not applied against any other population in the State of Israel except terrorists and dangerous enemies.”
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir also gave a congratulatory response.
יש שר ביטחון בירושלים! מברך את חברי השר ישראל כ"ץ על בשורה חשובה ואדירה - החלטתו הבוקר להפסיק את מתן הצווים המנהליים למתיישבים ביו"ש, זה תיקון עוול של שנים רבות וצדק עם אותם אוהבי הארץ. ישראל, כל הכבוד!
— איתמר בן גביר (@itamarbengvir) November 22, 2024
“There is a defense minister in Jerusalem! I congratulate my friend, Minister Israel Katz, on important and great news,” he wrote on X/Twitter, adding that the decision was “a correction of an injustice of many years and justice for those who love the land.”
Centrist and leftist MKs were much harsher in their responses.
“Minister Katz’s capitulation to the extremist pressures of the settlers, to deny administrative detention as a means of preventing Jewish terror, will result in more casualties,” Yesh Atid MK Elazar Stern said. “The first to be harmed will be the settlers in Judea and Samaria, followed by all Israeli citizens.”
Democrats MK Gilad Kariv said Katz’s decision “is giving a tailwind to Jewish terror.”
“[Former prime minister] Menachem Begin issued an administrative detention warrant for Meir Kahane. Members of today’s Likud faction would be [Kahane’s] loyal servants.”
Ta’al leader MK Ahmad Tibi called the move a “certificate of approval from the defense minister for Jewish terrorism.”
“A government of supporters of terrorism. Administrative detention for Palestinians only. More proof of the regime of Jewish supremacy,” he said. “Later they will whine about ‘antisemitism’ in The Hague. In short: Administrative detention will not apply to those whose blood is blue and white, who are members of the superior Jewish race.”