Right-wing protesters disrupt High Court hearing over Sde Teiman detention center
Chief justice says legal proceedings cannot be interrupted; state insists ‘core principles’ of law upheld at facility, where severe abuse of Palestinian detainees has been alleged
Jeremy Sharon is The Times of Israel’s legal affairs and settlements reporter
Right-wing activists and family members of hostages and October 7 victims disrupted a hearing of the High Court of Justice on Wednesday morning in a protest against the court’s decision to hear petitions against the treatment of Palestinian terror detainees at the Sde Teiman facility, where allegations of severe abuse have been made.
Dozens of protesters organized by the Betzalmo organization, including family members of hostages and victims of the October 7 massacre, shouted “Disgrace” and “We are the sovereign” when an attorney for the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), which has petitioned the court to shutter Sde Teiman, began speaking.
After a 30-minute delay during which the protesters were removed from the court, acting court president Uzi Vogelman spoke out strongly.
“What we saw right now was an attempt to stop a court hearing. We very much respect the right of every person in the State of Israel to protest, but this cannot be done in a court, and certainly not in a way that disrupts the conduct of a hearing,” said Vogelman. “Courts in Israel act in accordance with the law, even during a time of war, and will continue to do so.”
Following the incident, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir condemned the court hearing over the abuse claims, saying, “While our hostages are languishing in Hamas captivity, the High Court is deliberating on petitions regarding the terrorists held in Sde Teiman.”
During the hearing, the three justices presiding over the case asked the state’s legal representative for greater clarity on the conditions in which the detainees are being held.
The state’s attorney insisted that the “core principles” of the law for detaining illegal combatants were being upheld in Sde Teiman, and also pointed out that a new, upgraded facility at the base will be opened on September 5 allowing detainees to be kept in much better conditions and obviating the petition.
ACRI’s attorney said, however, that the regulations were deficient in their ability to protect the detainees’ rights, and that conditions in Sde Teiman are incommensurate both with Israeli law and international law.
The petition to shutter Sde Teiman was filed by ACRI and other human rights groups following allegations of severe human rights abuses, which were made by several media outlets based on whistleblower and detainee accounts. These included extreme use of physical restraints, amputations due to prolonged use of handcuffs, beatings, and neglect of medical problems.
One IDF reservist soldier has already been indicted for suspected abuse at the facility, and five others are in military custody on suspicion of sodomizing a detainee with an object, along with other abuses.
Purported footage of the incident, broadcast by Channel 12 news on Tuesday, showed soldiers at Sde Teiman taking aside one of detainees, who had been lying face down on the floor, then surrounding him with riot shields while they allegedly committed the abuse.
The detainee was subsequently taken away for medical treatment for severe injuries.
According to the report, the detainee was a member of the Hamas police force but not its elite Nukhba force, and did not participate in the October 7 invasion, though he was still considered by Military Intelligence to be a dangerous terrorist.
In its Monday submission to the High Court in response to the petition, the state acknowledged that some detainees have been restrained and blindfolded for long periods of time, but insisted that such treatment was lawful due to the security needs of prison staff.
It said that only two detainees are currently being held under such conditions.
Speaking in court on Wednesday, Aner Helman, representing the state, noted that although five weeks ago there were 700 detainees in Sde Teiman, today there are just 30, along with three others in the medical facility at the site.
He also said that the new facility to be opened on September 5 will have “more organized security arrangements,” meaning that the methods used to hold some detainees in Sde Teiman will no longer be necessary.
When asked why the state has said that “the core principles” of the law for holding unlawful combatants are being upheld instead of every aspect of the law, Helman said there were some stipulations, such as visits by the Red Cross, that have been denied and are being dealt with in a separate petition.
Family visits for detainees and even the provision of cigarettes, which are stipulated as necessary in the law, are also not being allowed, which is why the state said it was observing “the core principles,” explained Heller, while adding that he could only provide more detail during the behind-closed-doors session of the hearing.
Representing ACRI, Oded Feller rejected the state’s argument that conditions had substantively changed at Sde Teiman.
“There’s a feeling that a new page has been turned and we’re talking about a new facility. We’re not talking about a new facility, it’s the same place, in which [the same] things have been happening since October,” said Feller.
The head of the Betzalmo organization, which organized the disruption of the court, said that the protesters “called on the High Court justices not to harm our sisters and brothers, the hostages in Gaza, not to call terrorists combatants, and not to look out for the rights of terrorists over and over again during a time of war.”
