Ministers in the far-right Israeli government are scheduled today to deliberate a bill that would grant ultranationalist Israeli National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir sweeping powers to jail Israeli nationals for months without filing charges against them, Israeli media reports said today. The legislation mainly targets Palestinians holding the Israeli nationality. The proposal, submitted by a member of Ben Gvir's far-right Otzma Yehudit party, is aimed at expanding use of the widely condemned tool of administrative detention, under which Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza can be held indefinitely in prison without charges or trial. Under MK Zvika Fogel's proposal, Ben-Gvir would be granted the authority to approve renewable administrative detentions for up to six months for anyone he considers poses a danger to the public, with the approval of the attorney general, the state attorney or one of their deputies. Ben-Gvir, a known racist with an extremist anti-Palestinian ideology, would also be able to impose travel restrictions on individuals, a ban on leaving the country, requiring people to live in certain areas, and prohibitions on the purchase of 'certain' goods and services, if he is 'convinced that there's a reasonable concern of harm to public security'. Leaders of the native Palestinian community in Israel have largely blamed the Israeli police for facilitating the emergence of criminal organizations and turning a blind eye to crime within the Arab communities in Israel.
Source: Palestine news & Information Agency - WAFA