Israel deepens apartheid rule: Jewish settlers given immunity from detention without trial

Deepening Israel’s apartheid regime, Defence Minister Israel Katz has announced that Jewish settlers in the illegally occupied West Bank will no longer face administrative detention – a system of imprisonment without trial that continues to be used extensively against Palestinians.

The decision, condemned by human rights organisations, highlights the stark disparity in Israel’s treatment of Jews and non-Jews in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Israel has issued 9,500 administrative detention orders against Palestinians since 7 October 2023. In contrast, only eight illegal settlers were detained in November under Israel’s system of apartheid.

According to the Haaretz, in July, the Knesset approved, in a preliminary vote, a bill that would effectively bar administrative detention, or detention without trial, for Jews, but allowed its use against Palestinians.

Peace Now, an Israeli settlement watchdog, warned that removing this legal tool would effectively eliminate one of the few mechanisms available to curb settler violence. “The cancellation of administrative detention orders for settlers alone is a cynical move that whitewashes and normalises escalating Jewish terrorism under the cover of war,” the organisation stated, referencing the surge in settler attacks during the Israel-Hamas conflict.

The cancellation of administrative detention orders for settlers alone is a cynical and reckless move that whitewashes and normalizes the rise of Jewish terrorism under the cover of war. pic.twitter.com/roHAQSsOut

— Peace Now (@peacenowisrael) November 22, 2024

Defence Minister Katz justified the decision by claiming it was “inappropriate” to use administrative detention against settlers. This comes as Western governments, including the US, have imposed sanctions on Israeli settlers and settlement organisations over violence against Palestinians.

Yonatan Mizrahi, Director of settlement watch for Peace Now, told AFP that while administrative detention was predominantly used against Palestinians, it served as one of the few effective tools for temporarily removing violent settlers from Palestinian communities.

The decision has drawn criticism for further entrenching Israel’s apartheid legal system in the Occupied West Bank, where 3 million Palestinians live under military law while approximately 700,000 Israeli settlers enjoy the protections of Israeli civilian law – a situation that international legal experts and major human rights group have long described as apartheid.

The move comes amid increased international scrutiny of settler violence, with the US Treasury recently sanctioning Amana, a key settlement development organisation, describing it as “a key part of the Israeli extremist settlement movement” with ties to violent actors in the West Bank.

Former Israeli military officials have also voiced concern, with one former IDF chief calling the decision “a grave mistake” that could further embolden extremist settlers who have intensified attacks on Palestinian communities since October 2023.

Aided by the far-right government, violence and pogroms perpetrated by Israeli settlers triggered the “largest forcible transfer” of Palestinians since 7 October.

READ: Smotrich calls for sanctions to weaken Palestinian Authority