Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz refuted claims on Thursday morning that he reversed his decision to cease issuing administrative orders against Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria.
“Amid misleading reports,” Katz stated, emphasizing, “the policy regarding administrative orders remains in effect and is fully implemented.”
His comments followed a report last night by Avishay Greenzeig on i24NEWS, which alleged that “Minister Katz held a classified meeting, announcing no discrimination between Arabs and Jews.”
The report, which Katz denied, claimed that “in a classified meeting, Minister Katz declared no ethnic bias in the issuance of administrative detention orders, guiding solely by security considerations.”
Greenzeig explained that the report was based on the state's response in court on behalf of Katz, indicating a step back from his declared policy of not issuing administrative orders categorically against Jews.
About two weeks ago, Minister Katz announced his decision to end the use of administrative detention orders against Jewish settlers in Judea and Samaria. During a meeting with ISA director Ronen Bar, he stated his decision to stop using such orders and requested alternative measures be implemented.
Katz remarked, “In a reality where Jewish towns in Judea and Samaria face severe Palestinian terrorist threats, backed by Iran's malicious axis seeking to form an eastern terror front against Israel, and unjust international sanctions are levied against settlers and settlement organizations - it is inappropriate for Israel to employ such severe measures against settlers.”
“In case of suspicion of criminal acts, perpetrators can be brought to justice, and if not, other preventive measures can be undertaken without administrative detention,” he explained.
The minister stressed in his statement, “I condemn any violence against Palestinians and taking the law into one's hands and call upon settlement leadership to make a similar public stance and express a clear position on the matter. It is essential to allow the IDF and other security and law enforcement agencies to handle terrorism and Palestinian violence, not to take the law into one's hands,” he concluded.