A new bill promoted by MK Simcha Rothman, which is supposed to impose severe restrictions on the Shin Bet's ability to detain Jewish terrorists in administrative detention was passed, Israeli media reported on Sunday.
According to the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), the bill will cause "widespread and continuous harm to the Shin Bet's ability to thwart terrorist activity in all sectors, leading to a significant increase in Palestinian terrorism and its casualties."
In recent days, a behind-the-scenes drama has been unfolding regarding Rothman's bill, which will be brought up for renewed discussion in the Ministerial Committee for Legislation tomorrow.
The bill prohibits the use of counter-terrorism tools such as administrative detention or administrative movement restrictions on Israeli citizens unless they are members of a terrorist organization from a closed list approved by the Knesset Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee.
The Shin Bet views this proposal as a "targeted thwarting" of its counter-terrorism efforts, not only in the field of Jewish terrorism but primarily in the field of Arab terrorism against Jewish Israeli citizens.
In a long, sharp, and critical letter sent by the Shin Bet chief's office for wide circulation, including the military secretaries of the prime minister, defense minister, the attorney general, the state attorney, the military advocate general, and others, it was stated that "the proposed amendment to the law will cause immediate, severe, and significant harm to state's security, given the abolition of the possibility of using clear counter-terrorism tools against those for whom collected information indicates an intent to carry out an attack."
'This will lead to bloodshed'
A security official familiar with the details of the event said in a closed conversation this week that "to pander to the electoral base and seven Jewish administrative detainees, they are endangering all Israeli citizens and causing a sharp decline in the Shin Bet's ability to thwart Palestinian terrorism. This will lead to bloodshed, many casualties, and will [harm the state] for generations."
The Shin Bet said it would not be possible to apply the proposed law's criteria solely to Israeli citizens, and the Shin Bet will also have to apply the law to foreigners in Israel, east Jerusalem residents (who hold Israeli ID cards), and Palestinians in the territories.
According to the Shin Bet's examination, the vast majority of Israelis against whom administrative detention orders have been issued do not meet the criteria of the proposed amendment to the law. Moreover, the vast majority of Palestinians against whom administrative detention orders have been issued or will be issued in the future also do not meet the law's requirements, and administrative detention would not be carried out.
"A significant part of today's terrorism is carried out by terrorists who do not have a clear organizational affiliation. This is clear for Israeli citizens, both Arabs and Jews, but also for a large part of Palestinian terrorists, who cannot be associated with a specific organization," said a security official. "The new bill simply denies us the tool called administrative detention, exposes Israeli citizens to increased risk, and will lead to bloodshed. We do not estimate this. We know it," he added.
"The immediate consequence of the bill is a severe restriction on handling dozens of Israeli citizens each year, who cannot be locked up in preventive detention and will therefore be free to advance their malicious intentions and carry out acts of terrorism and sabotage, despite the existence of information about these intentions," said a letter sent by the Shin Bet. "Simply put, advancing the bill will significantly expand terrorist activities and casualties from these actions, which could have been prevented."
The Shin Bet noted that this year, a total of seven Israeli "Jewish terrorist" activists were detained in administrative detention. A similar number were detained last year. "To protect seven detainees and to pander to the electoral base," said a security official, "they are willing to endanger the entire state's citizens. This is simply shocking."
"For example," the letter distributed by the Shin Bet states, "it will not be possible to advance administrative actions against individual perpetrators without organizational affiliation, supporters of global jihad organizations who are not 'members' of these organizations, activists of local terror cells, and those involved in 'spontaneous' terror acts.
"Our examination shows that the vast majority of Israeli citizens detained in administrative detention do not meet the conditions outlined in the bill, and the professional assessment is that a similar rate applies to additional administrative orders. The consequence of the inability to advance the issuance of administrative orders in their cases is an increase in terrorist attacks and their casualties during a difficult and complex period when security organizations are stretched to their limits in an effort to fulfill their mission."
The Shin Bet also said that abolishing the ability to carry out administrative detention based on confidential intelligence will require exposing intelligence gathering methods used by security agencies, and such exposure will significantly harm Israel's ability to deal with increasing terrorist threats.
The new bill will cause, according to professional assessments, a heavy burden on the Shin Bet, which will not be able to prevent terrorist attacks before they occur using administrative detention and will have to solve them post-facto, which will require much greater resources and harm the overall effort.
Shin Bet officials recently met with MK Rothman, who is promoting the bill, and with National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, in an effort to convince them that this is a real sabotage of Israel's ability to defend itself, all due to seven administrative detainees per year, belonging to the electoral base of the bill's proponents.
Rothman and Ben-Gvir were also told that the materials collected against the Jewish administrative detainees are highly confidential and serious and that there is no basis for the political criticism of these detentions or the claim that they are "excessive."
Behind closed doors, the anger within the Shin Bet and other security organizations about this legislative initiative is almost unprecedented. Criticism was also heard against a recent ceremony held in honor of two released Jewish administrative detainees. MK Limor Son Har-Melech presented each of them with a check for tens of thousands of shekels as a "token of appreciation for their efforts."
The fact that Jewish terrorists receive financial rewards for their actions from government representatives is simply inconceivable, said a security official, "We must not forget that these very people demand the dismantling of the Palestinian Authority because it pays grants to terrorists, while they do exactly the same deeds, in broad daylight, and even boast about it."