British activist detained in West Bank, faces deportation over anti-Israel posts

A British left-wing activist is facing deportation from Israel after police arrested her Monday morning in the West Bank’s South Hebron Hills.

Janet Adyeri, 35, was arrested after entering a closed military zone in at-Tuwani, Palestinian village near the West Bank settlement of Ma’on. Police said they detained Adyeri after she refused orders to identify herself and threatened the settlement’s security coordinator who arrived at the scene.

“The suspect was questioned in the investigations and intelligence unit of the West Bank District and brought before a judge,” police said in a statement.

During the interrogation, officers apparently discovered that she had “uploaded social media posts against police and IDF soldiers, and was part of an organization calling to boycott the State of Israel.”

“In the wake of what came up during the investigation, [the Population and Immigration Authority] decided to deport her,” the statement continued.

Adyeri’s lawyer, Riham Nasra, said she was never interrogated regarding her social media posts or making threats. Nasra said she was “questioned regarding her entry into a closed military zone, and that’s it.”

According to Adyeri’s version of events, she had only refused to identify herself when asked by a soldier out of uniform, not understanding he had the authority to demand her passport. She presented identification to uniformed soldiers later on, Nasra said.

The activist’s attorney further insisted that she had not been brought before a judge, as police claimed, and was instead taken straight to to a hearing at the Population and Immigration Authority in Ramle by Hebron police officers, where her deportation was decided upon.

“The options they gave her after they held the [deportation] hearing was to wait in detention for three more days to go before a judge,” or to leave the country without a hearing, Nasra said. She chose the latter.

Adyeri is currently being held in Ramle’s Givon Prison pending her departure, Nasra added. She is expected to leave the country tomorrow.

The incident is one of a number in the past year in which authorities have deported foreign activists working with Palestinians in the West Bank.

According to figures published by Haaretz, at least 16 activists were deported since October 2023 after being detained in the West Bank on various suspicions.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who oversees police, welcomed the development in a post to his X social media account, writing, “Anyone who acts against Israel will find themselves facing an aggressive police.”

“The fun and games are over!” Ben Gvir said.

Last year the Ynet outlet reported that Ben Gvir, who leads the ultranationalist Otzma Yehudit party, had set up a special police team to arrest Israeli left-wing activists in the West Bank and the visiting foreign activists they cooperate with. It is unclear if the special team was involved in Adyeri’s arrest.

An anonymous security official who spoke to the outlet was cited as saying the team would focus on “first, foreign nationals who come here from all over the world straight to the territories and create provocations against IDF soldiers. Second, tourists who come here under the guise of a visit, but end up at the same areas of tension in Judea and Samaria. Third, Israeli citizens who confront IDF soldiers.”

Israel has also been trying to prevent foreign activists from entering the country, including lawmakers.

Last month, authorities canceled visas for 27 French left-wing lawmakers and local officials two days before they were to arrive for a visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories, the trip organizers said.

The Interior Ministry said at the time the visas for the 27 were canceled under a law that allows authorities to ban people who could act against the state.

Earlier in April, authorities detained British members of parliament Yuan Yang and Abtisam Mohamed at Ben Gurion Airport and deported them, citing the same reason. Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy called the action “unacceptable.”

In February, Israel stopped two left-wing European parliament deputies, Franco-Palestinian Rima Hassan and Lynn Boylan from Ireland, from entering.