‘Administrative detention’ for Jewish militant suspects

Israel intends to detain without trial citizens suspected of political violence against Palestinians, government officials said on Sunday following a lethal West Bank arson attack blamed on Jewish militants.

The extension to Israelis of so-called “administration detention”, a practice commonly applied to Palestinian militant suspects and condemned internationally, laid bare authorities’ frustration at failing to curb Jewish ultra-nationalist attacks.

Friday’s torching of a Palestinian home killed a toddler and seriously hurt his parents and brother, causing an outcry abroad and vows by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to crack down on what he deemed “terrorism” by “criminals in our nation”.

With no arrests yet made for the arson, some Israeli commentators on Sunday questioned the resolve of security services which, when responding to Palestinian attacks, often round up suspects en masse as part of accelerated investigations.

Such detainees are sometimes held without trial for months, a measure Israel says is required to prevent further violence in the absence of sufficient evidence to prosecute, or where going to court would risk exposing the identity of secret informants.

Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon, who oversees law and order in the West Bank, would now subject any Israelis arrested for the Duma arson or similar incidents in the future to “administrative detention,” his spokesman said.