Minister seeks debate on claims Shin Bet tortured Jewish terror suspects

Demand by Jewish Home’s Uri Ariel, backed by civil rights NGO, comes after detainees’ lawyers cite ‘outrageous physical violence’

Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel of the Jewish Home party on Friday called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to convene the ministerial committee on the Shin Bet security service, to discuss claims that agency officials tortured Jewish Israelis suspected of carrying out a July terror attack that killed three members of a Palestinian family.

Ariel said that while the case and the suspicions are severe and “no one disputes that,” the accounts by the detainees’ lawyers are “chilling and raise a suspicion that severe physical torture took place,” according to Israel Radio.

The house of the Dawabsha family in the West Bank village of Duma was firebombed on the night of July 31. Only one member of the family — four-year-old Ahmed — survived the attack and he is still being treated in an Israeli hospital. Baby Ali was killed that night and parents Riham and Sa’ad subsequently died of their injuries.

Ariel demanded on Friday afternoon that the committee discuss the matter as a matter of urgency, and submit its findings to the government.

Saad and Riham Dawabsha, with baby Ali. All three died when the Dawabsha home in the West Bank village of Duma was firebombed, by suspected Jewish extremists, on July 31, 2015 (Channel 2 screenshot)

Deputy Attorney General Raz Nizri has provided the government with a list of the measures employed to interrogate the detainees, which does not mention torture.

Ariel’s demand was backed by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, which deals overwhelmingly with allegations of human rights abuses aagainst Palestinians.

In a tweet, ACRI wrote, “The report by the lawyers of the suspects in the Duma terror attack regarding the suspects’ interrogation by the Shin Bet raises heavy suspicion that illegal methods of interrogation were employed, such as resorting to physical force.”

In a second tweet, ACRI wrote: “We would like to remind you that a High Court of Justice ruling on the use of torture was achieved by ACRI, the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel and the Hotline for Civil Rights and was based, among other sources, on reports by B’Tselem.”

The NGOs mentioned in the second tweet are groups usually dedicated to fighting civil rights abuses allegedly committed against Palestinians.

Israeli security forces have detained an unknown number of suspects for alleged involvement with the Duma attack, but have kept a thick veil of secrecy over the arrests, claiming that revealing details may disrupt the investigation process.

On Thursday, the Shin Bet lashed out against extremist Jewish organizations, saying such groups display an “anti-Zionist ideology” and bear part of the responsibility for the current wave of violence in Israel and the West Bank.

The Shin Bet accused the Jewish suspects of using “violent means to bring about a change in the government in the State of Israel.”
Earlier Thursday, the suspects’ attorneys accused the Shin Bet of “outrageous physical violence” against their clients.

“The Shin Bet investigators are allowing themselves to abuse and strike the youths. I understand that the investigators want to reach their goal, but there’s a limit,” the lawyers said during a press conference. All of the attorneys come from the Honenu organization, which principally handles cases of Israelis accused of nationalistic crimes,

The Shin Bet, however, claimed in a statement that the suspects were not tortured, but were rather “interrogated in an intensive way with regards to the suspicions against them.”

Palestinians look at the damage after a house was set on fire and a baby killed, allegedly by Jewish terrorists, in the West Bank village of Duma, on July 31, 2015. (AFP/Jaafar Ashtiyeh)

The far-right groups, which often do not recognize the authority of the Israeli government and army, have been blamed for both serious violence, like the Dawabsha killings, as well as vandalism against Palestinians, Christian holy sites and Israeli military property.

The Shin Bet statement following the attorneys’ accusations is a rare departure from the usually taciturn agency.

The agency addressed the allegations, including a column written a week ago by Ariel’s colleague in Jewish Home Bezalel Smotrich, in its statement.

“Unfortunately, since carrying out the arrests, the Shin Bet has recognized a proactive and ongoing effort whose goal is to slander the agency and its workers, and disrupt our operational activities,” the security service said Thursday.