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Transportation Minister (and former Justice Minister) Meir Shitreet calls for jailing political opponents for alleged "threats" to vote against supporters of the expulsion plan.
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| By Israel Insider staff and partners February 15, 2005 |
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Moshe Katsav on Monday announced his support for putting Israelis who authorities believe pose a threat in administrative detention, arresting them without charges. "Sometimes in order to safeguard democracy, we have to use undemocratic means such as administrative detention," His Excellency the President said.
"We cannot afford to compromise on this issue, we have to put an end to it before it does irreversible damage," the figurehead of Israeli democracy said.
The day before, Internal Security Minister Gideon Ezra said that people who have the potential for violence should be incarcerated, even if they don't break any laws. "There are dangerous people out there who need to be arrested today," he explained. "The situation we find ourselves in now, in which we invest lots of resources and time in investigating, is not working. We do not have the time [to investigate], and the people whom we have material against which is classified and cannot be brought to court should be placed in administrative detention."
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"Sometimes in order to safeguard democracy, we have to use undemocratic means such as administrative detention."
His Excellency President Moshe Katsav.
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Ezra, who is reportedly reviewing Shin Bet reports, looking for potential candidates to put in jail, said that suggestive comments alone would suffice. "There are people out there who say dangerous things and incite and they need to be arrested," he said. In the context of his other remarks, it was unclear whether he meant arrested or simply thrown into jail.
Ezra went so far as to name names, saying that Itamar Ben-Gvir, associated with the outlawed Kach movement of the slain Rabbi Meir Kahane, "is smart and knows the limits of the law. But he sweeps youngsters after him who do what he wants and that is dangerous. We need a break from people like this, and they need to let us take a break from their actions." By "break" he apparently meant that Ben-Gvir should be arrested even though he had committed no crime.
Shitreet: Political pressure is also a "threat"
Meir Sheetrit (Likud) Minister of Transportation in a live interview broadcast on Israel Radio's noon news magazine on 14 February 2005 [transcript by IMRA], offered the following observations on the limits of political tolerance.
"We should not take threats likely. It starts, by the way with threats that, prima facie, are not even threats."
"I will give you an example of a terrible thing: Say a group of members of the Central Committee of the Likud sends letters to ministers from the Likud and MKs from the Likud and tells them in the letters that 'we hereby advise you that we have decided that everyone who supports the disengagement will not receive our votes for the next Knesset.'"
"Prima facie you would say that this is not a threat and they certainly have the right not to vote for people who favor disengagement. But when it turns
into an organized group that threatens members of Knesset not to vote for them then in my eyes this is a threat."
"The question is what are the boundaries. When does something start to become a threat? Only when someone is murdered? Certainly not."
"Tell me, what additional evidence is required in order to arrest the group that attacked Minister Livnat? It is on video. What is the problem?"
The video of Itamar Ben-Gvir's alleged "attack" on Minister Livnat, broadcast on Channel Two, that Sheetrit apparently considers sufficient for his arrest and prosecution is available for viewing on MSN Israel. See related article for transcript and more details on the physical force used by Livnat's bodyguards.
The Attorney General's office maintains sanity, for now
On Monday morning, the Jerusalem Post reported, Assistant State Attorney for Special Tasks Shai Nitzan said that no one has suggested placing an Israeli in administrative detention because of opposition to the government or ambiguous feelings of threat.
In an interview with Israel Radio, Nitzan said that to put someone in administrative detention, evidence is collected by the police and security forces rather than the Justice Ministry. In apparent contradiction to the President and the Internal Security Minister, he mentioned that Israel is a democratic country and not every denunciation or disparagement of a minister is an offence that necessitates detention.
The accused speak out, for now
At a press conference on Sunday, Ben-Gvir responded to those who would imprison him without charges: "Let them arrest me... Gideon Ezra does not understand what a democracy is since we are allowed to protest and speaking against the government does not make people dangerous.
"If they lock me up in administrative detention, they should be prepared for hundreds of people like me who will sprout up and continue screaming against [Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon and Ezra."
The Council of Jewish Communities in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip convened a press conference, denouncing what it called "Sharon's incitement campaign against the settlers."
"We are not inciting to violence, Sharon is," said Hasdai Eliezer, head of the Alfei Menashe Regional Council. "We are sick and tired of denouncing violence and apologizing for what others do, while Sharon incites to violence."
"Sharon cheated the voters, including myself," he said. "What I am mostly concerned with is not the disengagement plan but that Israel is beginning to resemble totalitarian regimes. The way Sharon ignored the mandate he was voted into office on is setting a very dangerous precedent."
Referring to recent assaults on Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu [which turned out to be a hoax initiated by a reported] and Education Minister Limor Livnat [which was misrepresented by the media as being an "attack" when only her bodyguards used physical force against hecklers], council head Benzi Lieberman denounced all acts of violence.
"We are opposed to all acts of verbal and physical violence," he said. "The prime minister, however, is intentionally trying to put us in the same corner as Kach... he is trying to say that anyone who disagrees with him is wrong and is inciting to violence."
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