Wednesday, November 6, 2024, 19:58 Knesset Member Simha Rothman, chairperson of the Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee, initiated a hearing for a bill pertaining to administrative orders. The bill intends to exclude Israeli citizens from emergency provisions of law pertaining to administrative orders unless the Defense Minister has reasonable grounds to believe that they are members of a terror organization listed in an addendum to the law.
At the hearing – see video below – Honenu Attorney Nati Rom referred to a court hearing regarding the authority of the agent in the Jewish Department of the GSS responsible for evaluating the level of risk that a suspect poses. He took part in that hearing and revealed that the agent lacked all knowledge of the field. It must be emphasized that the GSS bases recommendations for administrative detentions on these evaluations. Attorney Rom said, “There is one man in the GSS who evaluates the level of danger that a suspect poses. This man has not undergone any training. I asked him, ‘Have you studied sociology, psychology, or criminology? Do you have training or knowledge of how to evaluate the level of danger [that a suspect poses]?’ He replied, ‘No.’ This man who decides who goes to prison has no training and bases his decisions on a political agenda.”
Shmuel Harel, a combat soldier in the reserves whose brother is under administrative detention, arrived directly from reserve duty in Lebanon to take part in the hearing. (Click here for a statement from Shmuel Harel leveling criticism at Minister Gallant.) Rivka Shapira, whose son Avraham is a film director currently serving a six-month administrative order, also took part in the hearing and said, “My son is not an enemy of the State. He simply did not go as a lamb to the slaughter when [Arabs] threw rocks at us and carried out attacks in Hawara. The GSS found a new method: administrative detention. They have no evidence, so they present to the judges empty binders titled ‘Help Us Shut Them Up.’”
No evidence need be presented before issuing administrative orders, and the recipients are not granted a trial.
Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee hearing (Hebrew); Video courtesy of the Knesset Channel