DM Katz Refused Shin Bet’s Request for Administrative Detention of a Jew

 

Shin Bet Chief Ronen Bar

According to a report on Kan 11 Wednesday night, Defense Minister Israel Katz declined the Shin Bet’s request to sign an administrative arrest warrant for a young Jewish man suspected of “terrorism.” Katz, who had previously declared an end to administrative arrests of Jews in Judea and Samaria, instead summoned the young man’s rabbis to his office, and during the meeting requested that they supervise the suspect and ensure he refrains from any further forbidden activity.

Minister Katz believes that alternative measures should be explored in the fight against “Jewish violence” in Judea and Samaria and hopes that this new approach will prove effective.

Israeli security sources stated in response to Kan 11’s report: “As part of the Shin Bet’s responsibility to prevent Jewish terrorism, administrative measures are only used as a last resort, after exhausting a series of softer approaches. These include discussions about shared responsibility with parents and rabbis, as well as warning conversations when necessary. In some cases, the Shin Bet has even proposed alternatives to detention, such as educational and rehabilitative programs.”

Back in May, The Jewish Press noted that in the past seventy years, there had been 25 administrative detentions of Jews in Israel, out of which 19 were carried out in the year and a half of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s tenure. How did the Shin Bet manage with only 6 anti-democratic detentions for so many decades?

The Tag Meir organization, paid for by the New Israel Fund, criticized DM Katz’s decision, stating: “Minister Katz’s reckless refusal to comply with the Shin Bet’s request for an administrative detention order against a terror suspect, and his belief that rabbinical supervision can prevent Jewish terrorism, will cost us dearly in blood.”

Here’s a historical note: on July 2, 2014, following the horrific murders by Hamas of Naftali Frankel, Gilad Shaer, and Eyal Yifrah, which led to Operation Protective Edge in Gaza, NIF joined Tag Meir in Jerusalem for a vigil calling for an end to the violence, racism, dehumanization, and bloodshed.

On both sides.

Two weeks ago, Minister Katz announced his decision to cancel administrative detention orders for Jewish detainees residing in Judea and Samaria. In a statement to the media, he justified the move as a response to the recent hostage deal, stating: “This is a message to encourage settlement in light of the expected release of terrorists.” As a result, five administrative detainees were released.

The Shin Bet criticized the decision, stating that it was made without considering the agency’s security assessments and potential implications.

So, here’s another historical note: on August 22, 2024, the Shin Bet and DM Gallant ordered the administrative detention of acclaimed documentary filmmaker Avraham Shapira, from Yitzhar, Samaria, while he was working on a video exposing the clandestine police’s political activity. This week, Channel 14 screened the video:

The Shin Bet issued a statement claiming that the filmmaker was a “violent and extreme activist involved in directing hilltop youth and young men to carry out violent activities in the Samaria region.

“Shapira was arrested as part of a police investigation on suspicions that he took part in the terrorist events in Kfar Jit on Aug. 15, during which a Palestinian was murdered, and four houses were set on fire,” according to the Shin Bet.

Jit is located five miles northwest of Yitzhar, south of Shechem.

“He did not cooperate, and in the absence of a criminal [prosecution] alternative, it was decided to put him under administrative arrest due to the great danger of his continued activity,” the Shin Bet said. “The false claim that Shapira was arrested for being a ‘film director’ is unfounded.”

This brings us to the old Yippies’ scientific advice on how to tell whether the chief of police is lying: you must observe his face very closely during his press conference, and if he opens his mouth, it means he’s lying.