Wednesday, April 9, 2025, 15:20 In March 2024, Honenu Attorney Nati Rom arrived at the Netivot Police Station to counsel demonstrators who had been detained at the Kerem Shalom Crossing and taken into the station for protesting against the transfer of humanitarian aid – which virtually always ends up in the hands of Hamas – to the Gaza Strip. After Attorney Rom demanded that the detainees be granted all of their civil rights, including their right to meet with an attorney, he was illegally detained and held in a detention cell for three hours. One month later, Attorney Rom, represented by Honenu Attorney Menashe Yado, sued the offending officers. Recently, in a compromise agreement with the officers, the Be’er Sheva Magistrates Court awarded Attorney Rom NIS 30,000 in compensation. Attorney Yado welcomed the decision and said that he hopes that the Israel Police will now respect the civil rights of detainees and put a stop to illegal detentions.
In the statement of claim, Attorney Yado described how Attorney Rom was detained after he attempted to advise his clients: “The claimant, an attorney by profession, frequently provides legal counsel to detainees, both independently and on behalf of the Honenu organization. On March 5, 2024, during a demonstration at the Kerem Shalom Crossing in protest of the transfer of supplies to the enemy in the Gaza Strip at a time of war, approximately seven minors were detained and taken into the Netivot Police Station. The claimant was requested by Honenu to provide the detainees with legal counsel at the station. The claimant coordinated his arrival at the station with the duty officer ahead of time. However, when he arrived, the desk sergeants were not aware of the aforementioned coordination. The claimant was forced to wait for an hour before being allowed to meet with the detainees.”
As he was waiting, he saw one of the detainees, a 14-year-old minor, being escorted by an officer to the bathroom. “The claimant approached the minor and told her not to give testimony or speak to the officers until she had been instructed by him. In response, the officer escorting the detainee shouted at the claimant, ‘Shut your mouth!,’ and similar insults and demanded that he leave the station. The claimant tried to calm tempers and asked the officer not to yell, but to no avail.”
In an attempt to prevent an escalation, Attorney Rom left the station. “However, several officers did not regain their composure even after the claimant left the station. A short time later, they followed him and demanded that he exit the station yard and go onto the street. The officers informed the claimant that if he did not leave the station yard, he would be detained. When he asked the reason, they replied that it would be for failure to obey an officer.”
Attorney Yado continued: “The officers left the claimant, but after he exited the station yard, he was brought back. This time, he was illegally given the status of detained. When the claimant entered the station, the officers demanded that he give them his cell phone. The claimant asked them why he was required to give the officers his phone. The officers replied that he was being detained. The claimant explained that they did not have the authority to take a phone from a detainee. In response, the officers told the claimant that they would arrest him, which they did.”
The statement of claim also cites that officers held Attorney Rom in a detention cell, searched him, and took money from his possession.
Attorney Rom welcomed the decision and said, “The violation of basic human rights by the Israel Police is intolerable. I am pleased that in this case, the State Attorney’s office understood their wrongdoing and spared everyone exhausting legal proceedings. Civil rights are not a luxury. We will not be deterred from protecting fundamental rights in general and the rights of minors in particular.”
The detention; Video credit: Free use