Reinforcing Israel's apartheid regime, Defense Minister Israel Katz announced that Jewish settlers in the illegally occupied West Bank would no longer be subject to administrative detention, a system of imprisonment without trial that continues to be widely used. used against Palestinians.
The decision, condemned by human rights organizations, highlights the glaring disparity between Israel's treatment of Jews and non-Jews in the occupied Palestinian territories. Since October 7, 2023, Israel has issued 9,500 administrative detention orders against Palestinians. In contrast, only eight illegal settlers were detained in November under Israel's apartheid system.
According to Haaretz, in July the Knesset approved in a preliminary vote a bill that would effectively ban administrative detention, or detention without trial, for Jews, but allow its use against Palestinians.
Peace Now, an Israeli settlement watchdog, warned that removing this legal tool would effectively eliminate one of the few mechanisms available to curb settler violence. “Canceling administrative detention orders for settlers alone is a cynical measure that whitewashes and normalizes the escalation of Jewish terrorism under the guise of war,” the organization said, referring to the surge in settler attacks. during the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Defense Minister Katz justified the decision by saying it was “inappropriate” to use administrative detention against settlers. The move comes as Western governments, including the United States, have imposed sanctions on Israeli settlers and settlement organizations over violence against Palestinians.
Yonatan Mizrahi, director of settlement monitoring for Peace Now, told AFP that while administrative detention was primarily used against Palestinians, it was one of the few effective tools for temporarily removing violent settlers from Palestinian communities.
The move has been criticized because it reinforces Israel's apartheid legal system in the occupied West Bank, where 3 million Palestinians live under military law while around 700,000 Israeli settlers enjoy security protection. Israeli civil law – a situation that international legal experts and leading human rights groups have long described as apartheid.
The move comes as settler violence receives increased attention from the international community. The U.S. Treasury recently sanctioned Amana, a major settlement development organization, describing it as “a key component of the extremist Israeli settlement movement” with ties to violent actors in the West Bank.
Former Israeli military officials have also expressed concern, with a former Israeli army chief calling the decision a “serious mistake” that could embolden extremist settlers who have intensified their attacks on Palestinian communities since October 2023.
Aided by the far-right government, violence and pogroms perpetrated by Israeli settlers triggered the “largest forced transfer” of Palestinians since October 7.
Translation: AFPS
Photo: Israeli settlers carry out raids in Masafer Yatta © Mohammad Hureini
