Arab Israeli woman to be held for 3 months without charges

Defense minister requests administrative detention order after 19-year-old texts friends she intends to become a ‘shahid’

The Nazareth District Court on Thursday approved a three-month administrative detention order for a 19-year-old Arab Israeli from a town in the north who texted her friends and sister that she intended to soon become a “shahid,” an Arabic word often translated as “martyr.”

The young woman’s family immediately alerted police after learning about the text messages she had sent, according to the Ynet news site.

An initial investigation revealed that the woman had also posted several messages to Facebook in recent months highlighting her will to engage in attacks against Israeli targets. The posts and text message on their own did not constitute sufficient evidence to indict the woman, but in light of their content, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon requested that the court order her to be held in administrative detention.

The woman’s identity was not made public.

Administrative detention refers to a controversial Israeli policy that allows authorities to hold security suspects without charge or trial indefinitely, so long as the court lends its approval.

Meanwhile Thursday, Beersheba police arrested a 14-year-old Palestinian girl at the city’s northern train station on suspicion of planning a terrorist attack in Jerusalem. According to police, the girl, who was reported missing on Wednesday, confessed in her investigation that she intended to engage in terrorist activities, the Walla news site reported. The girl on Wednesday sent a text message to her parents mentioning that she “deserved to die” and that she would “soon be on TV, and you will all see what I have done,” police investigators said.

Alexander Levlovitz, the man who died whe he lost control of his car and crashed after terrorists threw rocks at the vehicle in Jerusalem. Levlovitz died early in the hours of Monday morning, the first day of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, on September 14, 2015. (Courtesy) — Alexander Levlovitz, who died when he lost control of his car and crashed after terrorists threw rocks at the vehicle. Levlovitz died early in the hours of Monday morning, the first day of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, on September 14, 2015, in Jerusalem. (Courtesy)

Earlier in the day, Israel charged five Palestinian teens with manslaughter over allegations that they threw rocks at a man’s car in Jerusalem, causing his death in an ensuing crash last month. Alexander Levlovitz was killed during Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, when he was driving on a road in East Talpiot, a neighborhood of southern Jerusalem close to the pre-1967 Green line.

The five youths, aged 16-19, all residents of the adjacent East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sur Baher, admitted in their investigation that they threw the rocks at Levlovitz’s car. Serving the indictments for the minors and adults at the same time was done after the government’s attorney-general, Yehuda Weinstein, approved the move.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.