The issue is just another in a series of perceived government harassment of the religious-nationalist camp. Though Ehud Olmert has spoken often of the need for post-Disengagement "internal reconciliation" with the pro-Land of Israel public, his government appears to have taken the opposite approach in many instances.
In July 2005, Olmert - then a Likud minister and strong supporter of Ariel Sharon's Disengagement plan - declared that immediately after the withdrawal/expulsion, the country must concentrate entirely on two issues: internal reconciliation and solving social problems.
This past May, when he presented his new government, Prime Minister Olmert said, “I am convinced, with all my heart, that it [partition of the land] is necessary and that we must do it with dialogue, internal reconciliation and broad consensus.”
Two months ago, however, nearly 20 reserve soldiers living in Judea and Samaria were arrested for refusing to take part in the expulsion of Jews a year earlier. Many of them were given suspended sentences, but at least two - from Tekoa and Yitzhar - were incarcerated for 25-28 days each.
More recently, 20 Jews from various Yesha communities have been served with orders forbidding them from entering their homes and other areas of Judea and Samaria, for periods ranging from three months to a year. No evidence or charges have been presented against them, and they have no way of defending themselves or protesting their innocence.
Yesterday (Monday), MK Ariel first initiated a session in the Knesset Law Committee on the issue, and then raised the matter in the full plenum. Speaking in the Knesset, Ariel said, "The issue at hand is the distancing of Israeli citizens without trial. In recent weeks, the State Prosecution, with the recommendation of the security framework, decided to exile 20 men from their homes, to separate them from their families - some of them have several children - and to keep them from their jobs and making a living, and cause them totally unreasonable damage. It turns out that the investigative body is also the accuser, the judge, and even the one that carries out its own judgment. Truly democracy at its best."
Ariel assigned Justice Minister Meir Sheetrit with ministerial responsibility for the matter: "We sat today in the Law Committee, and senior attorney Shai Nitzan said that he approved every single case. The justice ministry is therefore not only formally responsible, but is also practically responsible for each of these cases... Nitzan told us that this idea that a person can be exiled from his home, is 'only in Judea and Samaria.' But these are Israeli citizens and taxpayers, who served in the IDF - some of them in the recent war. Despite this, Nitzan believes that they can be compared to the 700 PA Arabs [currently in administrative detention] who are not Israeli citizens, most of whom are charged with membership in terrorist organizations trying to undermine the State. Does the government truly feel that it is proper to compare people who might be suspected of wanting to commit property crimes or even violence, to terrorists? Is this the comparison you wish to make? Is this how you regard Israeli citizens?"
Ariel continued, "When Shai Nitzan asked us what we would have him do instead, I told him - and I'm saying now that we will insist on this and give you no rest until it happens - that they should investigate, put them on trial, keep them in jail until the end of the proceedings if the court approves it, and sentence them to jail if appropriate. But no one - not Shai Nitzan, not the Defense Minister, not the Central Commander, not the Shabak head - may become a judge over Israeli citizens. The Saison [when the left-wing Haganah worked with the British to arrest right-wing Irgun members - ed.] ended 55 years ago, and if you intend to renew it and try to provoke a civil war, the onus will be upon you."
MK Ariel said that some of those who received the orders were told that it was because of the olive-harvesting season. "Yet this season lasts, at most, a month - so why are these orders for three months or six months? What type of wantonness is this?... In addition, [Shai Nitzan said] that the system has proven itself, that violence has been reduced in the area, and that they plan to expand on it. He says this without a shred of shame. It looks like a good system, because the citizens of Judea and Samaria are second-class citizens, according to some of the attorneys in the Prosecution. Very nice. So we see how it develops: The Defense Minister doesn't allow the building of schools in Yesha, by not signing the proper authorizations; he doesn't say he's not allowing it, he simply doesn't sign. With the other hand, he wants to destroy the outposts... I mean, where do you think we are living? This cannot be. I ask you to delve into the matter and not leave it like this. Citizens cannot be considered in the same status as the Arabs of Judea and Samaria."
Ariel asked Justice Minister Sheetrit to "take all the files, and go over them yourself, and see if there is even one case that can be shortened by even one day. Because if you cut back by even one day, you have done something: he has a wife, he has a job, and every day that passes means more injustice."
"To distance someone from his home - has no logic. If you think that he is endangering a village, then keep him away from that village! But no, they keep him away from his family and home! There has to be some logic here. I repeat our demand: We object to violence and recognize the State as something holy - yes, the State and the police are holy, because they belong to the Jewish People after 2,000 years - we demand that you be pure in this matter, and put criminals on trial."
"You say that we can appeal to a judge," Ariel said. "This is objectively true, but in fact, when a judge is faced with secret evidence presented him by the Shabak - evidence that the defense attorney and the accused are not allowed to see - no judge has yet been born, except for one who I know, who can stand up to this pressure and go against the Shabak. The Shabak abuses this situation."
Government Response
Responding for the government was Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh, who said that the Justice Minister is not responsible, "because the sovereign in Judea and Samaria is the IDF and the Defense Ministry, period... Who are we talking about? We're talking about law-breakers who are dangerous to their neighbors and dangerous to the security forces."
MK Ariel interrupted and said, "So put them on trial!"
Sneh continued, "The decision to issue these orders was based on evidence provided by the Shabak, among others." He read aloud a quotation from an IDF military judge in one case who said that the evidence indicates clearly that the respondent presented a clear danger to the public. MK Tzvi Hendel said, "So put him in jail! Out of the 20, there are 17 who certainly are not guilty of any crimes!"
To this, Sneh responded, "There are situations that these people take measures to interfere with the investigation and make it very hard to find evidence." Hendel responded angrily, "In all the years that the State of Israel exists, there has never been another case in which it was hard to find evidence? Only now, when there is a political desire to throw people out of Yesha?! Do you think we don't know what's going on?!"
Sneh said that the measures taken against the 20 are "the minimum that should be done, they are good, and they are appropriate."
MK Ariel asked if Sneh would personally review each case and see if each case was justified. "Perhaps you will find one who was unjustly punished, just like Abraham asked about the people of Sodom," Ariel said.
MK Ruby Rivlin (Likud), a lawyer, said, "There is a procedure even for people who interfere with the legal process. They can also be investigated and tried. But you can't avoid that by saying you can't try him and therefore you throw him out of his home. He must be able to defend himself... Can you be sure that among them is not one who was thrown out of his home for no reason?"
Sneh: It is hard for me to believe that.
Rivlin: Hard for you to believe! So check and see!
Sneh: No, what I mean is that I believe that there is no one who was thrown out for no reason.
Speaker Itzik: If I may interrupt, it seems that the question is that there may be one who - I mean, you'll certainly check, right?
Sneh: I - first of all, I have their details, and I - if that is what you are requesting -
Itzik: Yes.
Ariel: Yes.
Sneh: - then I am willing to check, and to tell you.
Itzik: Very nice. Thank you, sir.
Sneh: I ask that the proposal to discuss this matter in the plenum be voted down.
The vote was taken, and Sneh's position was not accepted, and the matter will be discussed at a future date. In the meanwhile, the 20 continue to be separated from their families.
Central Command Officer Gen. Yair Naveh, who signed the orders, can be faxed at (0)8-8680240; from abroad, the number is country code 972, followed by 8868-0240. Defense Minister Peretz's fax number is (0)2-649-6545, and Prime Minister Olmert can be faxed at (0)2-670-5475.
In July 2005, Olmert - then a Likud minister and strong supporter of Ariel Sharon's Disengagement plan - declared that immediately after the withdrawal/expulsion, the country must concentrate entirely on two issues: internal reconciliation and solving social problems.
This past May, when he presented his new government, Prime Minister Olmert said, “I am convinced, with all my heart, that it [partition of the land] is necessary and that we must do it with dialogue, internal reconciliation and broad consensus.”
Two months ago, however, nearly 20 reserve soldiers living in Judea and Samaria were arrested for refusing to take part in the expulsion of Jews a year earlier. Many of them were given suspended sentences, but at least two - from Tekoa and Yitzhar - were incarcerated for 25-28 days each.
More recently, 20 Jews from various Yesha communities have been served with orders forbidding them from entering their homes and other areas of Judea and Samaria, for periods ranging from three months to a year. No evidence or charges have been presented against them, and they have no way of defending themselves or protesting their innocence.
Yesterday (Monday), MK Ariel first initiated a session in the Knesset Law Committee on the issue, and then raised the matter in the full plenum. Speaking in the Knesset, Ariel said, "The issue at hand is the distancing of Israeli citizens without trial. In recent weeks, the State Prosecution, with the recommendation of the security framework, decided to exile 20 men from their homes, to separate them from their families - some of them have several children - and to keep them from their jobs and making a living, and cause them totally unreasonable damage. It turns out that the investigative body is also the accuser, the judge, and even the one that carries out its own judgment. Truly democracy at its best."
Ariel assigned Justice Minister Meir Sheetrit with ministerial responsibility for the matter: "We sat today in the Law Committee, and senior attorney Shai Nitzan said that he approved every single case. The justice ministry is therefore not only formally responsible, but is also practically responsible for each of these cases... Nitzan told us that this idea that a person can be exiled from his home, is 'only in Judea and Samaria.' But these are Israeli citizens and taxpayers, who served in the IDF - some of them in the recent war. Despite this, Nitzan believes that they can be compared to the 700 PA Arabs [currently in administrative detention] who are not Israeli citizens, most of whom are charged with membership in terrorist organizations trying to undermine the State. Does the government truly feel that it is proper to compare people who might be suspected of wanting to commit property crimes or even violence, to terrorists? Is this the comparison you wish to make? Is this how you regard Israeli citizens?"
Ariel continued, "When Shai Nitzan asked us what we would have him do instead, I told him - and I'm saying now that we will insist on this and give you no rest until it happens - that they should investigate, put them on trial, keep them in jail until the end of the proceedings if the court approves it, and sentence them to jail if appropriate. But no one - not Shai Nitzan, not the Defense Minister, not the Central Commander, not the Shabak head - may become a judge over Israeli citizens. The Saison [when the left-wing Haganah worked with the British to arrest right-wing Irgun members - ed.] ended 55 years ago, and if you intend to renew it and try to provoke a civil war, the onus will be upon you."
MK Ariel said that some of those who received the orders were told that it was because of the olive-harvesting season. "Yet this season lasts, at most, a month - so why are these orders for three months or six months? What type of wantonness is this?... In addition, [Shai Nitzan said] that the system has proven itself, that violence has been reduced in the area, and that they plan to expand on it. He says this without a shred of shame. It looks like a good system, because the citizens of Judea and Samaria are second-class citizens, according to some of the attorneys in the Prosecution. Very nice. So we see how it develops: The Defense Minister doesn't allow the building of schools in Yesha, by not signing the proper authorizations; he doesn't say he's not allowing it, he simply doesn't sign. With the other hand, he wants to destroy the outposts... I mean, where do you think we are living? This cannot be. I ask you to delve into the matter and not leave it like this. Citizens cannot be considered in the same status as the Arabs of Judea and Samaria."
Ariel asked Justice Minister Sheetrit to "take all the files, and go over them yourself, and see if there is even one case that can be shortened by even one day. Because if you cut back by even one day, you have done something: he has a wife, he has a job, and every day that passes means more injustice."
"To distance someone from his home - has no logic. If you think that he is endangering a village, then keep him away from that village! But no, they keep him away from his family and home! There has to be some logic here. I repeat our demand: We object to violence and recognize the State as something holy - yes, the State and the police are holy, because they belong to the Jewish People after 2,000 years - we demand that you be pure in this matter, and put criminals on trial."
"You say that we can appeal to a judge," Ariel said. "This is objectively true, but in fact, when a judge is faced with secret evidence presented him by the Shabak - evidence that the defense attorney and the accused are not allowed to see - no judge has yet been born, except for one who I know, who can stand up to this pressure and go against the Shabak. The Shabak abuses this situation."
Government Response
Responding for the government was Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh, who said that the Justice Minister is not responsible, "because the sovereign in Judea and Samaria is the IDF and the Defense Ministry, period... Who are we talking about? We're talking about law-breakers who are dangerous to their neighbors and dangerous to the security forces."
MK Ariel interrupted and said, "So put them on trial!"
Sneh continued, "The decision to issue these orders was based on evidence provided by the Shabak, among others." He read aloud a quotation from an IDF military judge in one case who said that the evidence indicates clearly that the respondent presented a clear danger to the public. MK Tzvi Hendel said, "So put him in jail! Out of the 20, there are 17 who certainly are not guilty of any crimes!"
To this, Sneh responded, "There are situations that these people take measures to interfere with the investigation and make it very hard to find evidence." Hendel responded angrily, "In all the years that the State of Israel exists, there has never been another case in which it was hard to find evidence? Only now, when there is a political desire to throw people out of Yesha?! Do you think we don't know what's going on?!"
Sneh said that the measures taken against the 20 are "the minimum that should be done, they are good, and they are appropriate."
MK Ariel asked if Sneh would personally review each case and see if each case was justified. "Perhaps you will find one who was unjustly punished, just like Abraham asked about the people of Sodom," Ariel said.
MK Ruby Rivlin (Likud), a lawyer, said, "There is a procedure even for people who interfere with the legal process. They can also be investigated and tried. But you can't avoid that by saying you can't try him and therefore you throw him out of his home. He must be able to defend himself... Can you be sure that among them is not one who was thrown out of his home for no reason?"
Sneh: It is hard for me to believe that.
Rivlin: Hard for you to believe! So check and see!
Sneh: No, what I mean is that I believe that there is no one who was thrown out for no reason.
Speaker Itzik: If I may interrupt, it seems that the question is that there may be one who - I mean, you'll certainly check, right?
Sneh: I - first of all, I have their details, and I - if that is what you are requesting -
Itzik: Yes.
Ariel: Yes.
Sneh: - then I am willing to check, and to tell you.
Itzik: Very nice. Thank you, sir.
Sneh: I ask that the proposal to discuss this matter in the plenum be voted down.
The vote was taken, and Sneh's position was not accepted, and the matter will be discussed at a future date. In the meanwhile, the 20 continue to be separated from their families.
Central Command Officer Gen. Yair Naveh, who signed the orders, can be faxed at (0)8-8680240; from abroad, the number is country code 972, followed by 8868-0240. Defense Minister Peretz's fax number is (0)2-649-6545, and Prime Minister Olmert can be faxed at (0)2-670-5475.