The Authority Already Exists – What’s Needed Is a Willingness to Act
21 كانون الأول/ديسمبر 2011
Soldiers in the Occupied Territories already have the legal authority to arrest Israeli citizens
Reports have appeared in the Israeli media in recent days claiming that the security forces will soon be given new powers to combat settler violence. According to the reports, soldiers will be authorized to detain and arrest Israelis in the Occupied Territories.
The reports are misleading. Israeli soldiers stationed in the West Bank are already authorized to detain Israeli citizens, if it is suspected that they have committed or are about to commit a criminal offense. The fact that soldiers do not usually take real-time action to arrest settlers who attacking Palestinians is not due to a lack of authority, but to a lack of willingness on the part of the system to take action to protect Palestinians and their property.
B'Tselem emphasizes once again that there is no need to provide the law enforcement agencies in the Territories with new powers. What is needed is to exercise the existing powers. The reluctance of the Israeli army to detain violent settlers in the field is one part of the problem. The police must also ensure effective investigations to uncover attacks committed clandestinely by settlers.
In order to clarify this point, we attach two official documents distributed to soldiers by the Military Advocate General’s Corps and the Civil Administration at the end of 2006 following the ruling issued by the High Court of Justice in the “olive harvest petition” filed by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel and Rabbis for Human Rights. The documents are not dated, and were received by B'Tselem in 2007. These documents detail the law enforcement obligations incumbent on Israeli soldiers:
Excerpt from the documents:
The Military's Legal Advisor in the West Bank:
2. Detaining – The General Rule
As a general rule, IDF soldiers are permitted to detain any person (including Israelis, Palestinians and foreigners) present in the Judea and Samaria Area, in the following cases:
A. When the soldier has reasonable grounds to suspect that the said person has committed an offense, or that he is about to commit an offense liable to endanger the safety or security of another, or public order and security– in this case, the soldier is permitted to detain the said person in order to clarify his identity and personal details, or in order to enable a person holding investigative authority (a police officer or member of the General Security Service) to take him elsewhere and interrogate him.
When a soldier has reasonable grounds to suspect that the said person has information (for example – an eye-witness) relating to an offense committed, or about to be committed, that is liable to endanger the safety or security of another, or pblic order or or security– in this case, the soldier is permitted to detain the said person in order to clarify his identity and personal details, or in order to summons him to place where a person holding investigative authority is present.
(Download full document in Hebrew)
The Civil Administration:
Clarification of Instructions relating to Law Enforcement against Israelis in the Judea and Samaria Area
The following is a clarification of several instructions of relevance to the issue of access by Palestinian farmers to their agricultural land, particularly regarding the processing by IDF soldiers of “incidents of friction” liable to occur regarding access by Palestinians to agricultural land situated in known areas of friction.
Obligation incumbent on soldiers to intervene to prevent an offense – the Procedure for the Enforcement of the Law against Israelis in the Judea and Samaria Area established that if an IDF soldier witnesses an offense committed by an Israeli (such as an incident of the assault or harassment of Palestinian farmers), he must take immediate action to thwart the execution of the offense, using any appropriate means not liable to endanger the life of the IDF forces or the suspect, including detaining or arresting the suspect of the offense, if necessary, pending the arrival of the police forces. The soldier is not permitted to stand by without taking action, and must act, within the framework of his function, to restore public order as detailed above.
Soldiers present on the scene must also prevent offenders from fleeing, and must ensure that the scene, and the evidence present there, are preserved, as much as possible.
