Knesset committee to discuss Ben Gvir’s call to hold Arab crime suspects without trial

The Knesset legislative committee will on Sunday discuss proposed legislation from the far-right Otzma Yehudit party that would allow the temporary jailing of suspects without charge or trial in order to clamp down on an ongoing wave of violent crime in Arab communities, the Haaretz daily reports

The bill would give Otzma Yehudit chairman — National Security Minister Ben Gvir — the ability to authorize administrative detentions, among a slew of other authorities.

According to the Otzma Yehudit proposal, Ben Gvir would be able to approve renewable administrative detentions for up to six months for anyone the minister thinks poses a danger to the public if requested by the police commissioner and with the approval of the attorney general, the state prosecutor or one of their deputies.

The controversial practice of administrative detention, currently used by the defense minister against terror suspects, allows individuals to be held without charge for six months at a time, renewable indefinitely, while allowing military prosecutors to keep suspects from being able to see the evidence against them.

Administrative detention is primarily used with Palestinians — about 1,000 of whom are currently held in custody under the practice. The practice has also been used with a handful of Jewish Israeli suspects in recent years, though Ben Gvir and other far-right leaders have come out against its employment in such cases.