ISRAEL PLANS CRACKDOWN ON W. BANK JEWS

Middle East Newsline reported on Sept. 9, 2011: TEL AVIV -- Israel's military plans a crackdown on Jewish housing in the West Bank. The military's Civil Administration has ordered an increase in the demolition of unlicensed Jewish homes in the West Bank. The order by Civil Administration... Read More

ARABS PAY HAMAS TO REFUSE SHALIT PRISONER SWAP

Middle East Newsline [http://www.menewsline.com] reports: LONDON -- U.S. government documents reported Qatari financial and political assistance to the Hamas regime in the Gaza Strip. The documents asserted that Qatar blocked efforts to reduce tension between Hamas and Israel. A U.S. diplomatic cable provided details of Qatar's support... Read More

ISRAELI GOV. CRACKS DOWN ON JEWISH DISSIDENTS AS PART OF PLAN TO PLACATE PALESTINIANS

JERUSALEM -- The Israeli army has begun a crackdown on Jewish dissent in Judea and Samaria as part of a wider plan to avoid violence and offer confidence-building measures to the Palestinian Authority prior to its unilateral declaration of a Palestinian State. The Defense Ministry has... Read More

U.S. AMB. SHAPIRO SAYS POLLARD CASE BELONGS IN COURT

JERUSALEM -- The United States takes pride in its judicial system and the ability to redress wrongs. Ironically, for nearly 30 years the American justice system has failed to even return to examine how it railroaded Jonathan Pollard because of high-level pressure from the Reagan administration. So, when the... Read More

ISRAELI COURT REJECTS APPEAL OF JEWISH SECURITY DETAINEES IN HARSH CONDITIONS

JERUSALEM -- An Israeli court rejected an appeal to release two young Jews being held in harsh conditions by Israel's Security Agency despite the fact that a warrant for the arrest of one of them was issued before an administrative restraining order expelling from his home for a year. ... Read More

ISA HOLDS JEWS IN HARSH CONDITIONS WITHOUT CHARGES

JERUSALEM -- Israel's Security Agency is holding two Jews in harsh conditions without charges. "They don't know what they're charged with," defense attorney Adi Kedar said. "ISA investigators have confiscated their clothes and they are being held in separate small cells in the basement without a... Read More

ISRAELI ACTIVIST FOR PALESTINIAN RIGHTS SPARED JAIL BY WESTERN LOBBY

JERUSALEM -- A leading anti-settlement activist has been repeatedly spared long prison terms for violent crimes, including rape, through a network of prominent westerners who successfully lobbied Israel's Supreme Court over the last 15 years. Ezra Yitzhak Nawi, 59, founder of the European-funded lsraeli-Palestinian left-wing human... Read More

ISRAELI SOLDIERS DISRUPT DEMOLITION OPERATIONS

JERUSALEM -- Israeli soldiers have begun to disrupt the demolition of Jewish homes in the West Bank, Middle East Newsline reported. Military sources reported at least two incidents over the last month in which soldiers and commanders hampered operations against Jewish residents in the West Bank.... Read More

ISRAELI POLICE DENY DISCRIMINATION IN ARRESTS OF JEWS IN CONFRONTATIONS WITH ARABS

JERUSALEM -- Israeli police deny discrimination in arrests of Jews involved in violent confrontations with Arabs. In response to a question from Israeljustice.com to the police as to whether it is a matter of policy to summarily arrest Jews involved in any confrontation with Arabs and... Read More

ISRAELI POLICE CONTINUE POLICY OF ARRESTING JEWISH VICTIMS OF ARAB ATTACKS

JERUSALEM -- Israeli police continue the policy of beginning criminal proceedings against Jews who are attacked by Arabs and file a complaint. "It's no surprise that Arabs feel more secure to attack Jews in a situation where the Jew is attacked and in the end the... Read More

ISRAELI ARMY TRAINS AGAINST JEWISH SETTLERS

JERUSALEM -- Israel's military continues training to counter Jewish resistance in the face of the government's decision to demolish at least three Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria in 2011. Defense officials said that military exercises using live fire against Jews living in communities in Judea... Read More

ISRAELI POLICE HARASS JEWISH GUN OWNERS IN SAMARIA

JERUSALEM -- Israeli police continue to harass and investigate Jewish residents of Samaria licensed to carry a pistol. Police arrived in the Jewish community of Itamar in Samaria at the home of Moshe Ronsky in the early hours of March 31 and began banging on the... Read More

ISRAELI COURT OVERTURNS CONDITIONS LIMITING JEWISH HIKERS

JERUSALEM -- The Jerusalem District Court has overturned a decision to impose limitations on three Jews to hike in the Land of Israel. On March 30, Jerusalem District Court Judge Moshe Drori granted an appeal by three Jews to hike anywhere and at any time in... Read More

UNIDENTIFIED POLICE STORM JEWISH HOMES IN NIGHT RAID

JERUSALEM -- Unidentified security officers stormed homes in a Samarian Jewish community in the middle of the night and arrested 10 Jews. After midnight on March 30, unidentified police officers raided homes in the Givat Ronen outpost. Residents said the officers refused to identify themselves as... Read More

ISRAELI COURTS IGNORE TESTIMONY, EVIDENCE IN SENTENCING JEWS

JERUSALEM -- Israeli courts sentence Jews in confrontations with Arab based solely on Arab testimony. In recent courts cases involving Jews who have been convicted of assaulting Arabs, judges have sentenced the Jews to prison based solely on testimony by Arabs and ignored the evidence and... Read More

ISRAELI POLICE ARREST JEWS IN CONFRONTATIONS WITH ARABS

JERUSALEM -- Israeli police continue to arrest Jews in violent confrontations with Arabs. In several recent cases, the police have only indicted Jews for injuring Arabs in rock fights, while ignoring evidence and testimony by Jews. "Don't turn to the police [for help],"... Read More

ISRAEL TRANSFERS $13 MILLION TO GAZA

JERUSALEM -- In a grass roots attempt to influence the government of Israel, a human rights organization has urged Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to stop the transfer of $13 million in cash and other goods into the Gaza Strip this week. "The government should reconsider... Read More

ISRAEL'S SUPREME COURT TO RULE ON DISENGAGEMENT CLEMENCY LAW

JERUSALEM -- Israel's Supreme Court will decide whether to overrule a parliamentary law to expunge criminal records for convicted Jewish dissidents against the Disengagement. The Supreme Court has appointed a panel of nine judges to rule whether to accept nine petitions by left-wing groups against a... Read More

ISRAEL SECURITY AGENCY HARASSES FAMILY OF JEWISH SUSPECT FOR MORE EVIDENCE

JERUSALEM -- The Israel Security Agency continues to harass the family of a Jewish suspect in two decade-old murder cases. Elisheva Teital, the mother of Jack Teital who has been held without trial since his arrest in October 2009 on suspicion of committing 14 crimes, including... Read More

KNESSET PROPOSES NAME TAGS FOR POLICE AT DEMONSTRATIONS

JERUSALEM -- An Israeli parliamentary committee has approved a proposal to require police officers to wear identification tags at demonstrations. The Knesset Committee on Legislation approved the proposal by parliamentarian Uri Ariel [National Union Party]. The proposal has to pass three readings in the Knesset before... Read More

ISRAELI COURT CRITICIZES POLICE FOR IGNORING EVIDENCE IN JEWISH SETTLER CASE

JERUSALEM -- An Israeli court has acquitted a Jewish resident of Hebron of assault of a Palestinian boy whilst criticizing the police for ignoring evidence. Jerusalem Magistrate Hagit Mak-Kalmanovich acquitted longtime Hebron resident, Yifat Alkobi of assaulting a Palestinian boy in 2005 and knocking out his... Read More

ANOTHER HOME IN WEST BANK JEWISH COMMUNITY DESTROYED BY GOVERNMENT

JERUSALEM -- Israeli security forces have destroyed another home in a West Bank Jewish community, implementing the government's destruction orders that were served during the building freeze that ended in September. In the early hours of Dec. 15, about 100 special police officers [Yasam] and security... Read More

ISRAEL SECURITY AGENCY CONTINUES TO INVESTIGATE JEWISH SUSPECT DESPITE RELEASE

JERUSALEM -- The Israel Security Agency continues to impose new restrictions and interrogations on a Jewish suspect in a decade-old murder case. Chaim Pearlman, 30, was released to house arrest by the Petah Tikva District Court on Aug. 12, after spending 31 days in ISA custody... Read More

ISRAELI COURT REJECTS POLICE APOPEAL AND RELEASES JEWISH SUSPECT TO HOUSE ARREST

TEL AVIV -- In a case that has highlighted the recruitment and interrogation techniques of the Israeli Security Agency and its corroboration with the justice system, an Israeli court rejected an appeal by police against releasing a Jewish suspect in an Arab murder case who was held for 30... Read More

ISRAELI COURT RELEASES JEWISH SUPECT IN MURDER CASE BUT IMMEDIATELY ACCEDES TO POLICE DEMAND TO APPEAL

TEL AVIV -- An Israeli court released a Jewish murder suspect to house arrest for lack of evidence but police immediately obtained a delay in the release until the appeal against the decision is heard by a higher court. Petah Tikva magistrate Nahum Sternlicht ordered that... Read More

ISRAELI COURT DISMISSES STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS IN JEWISH CASE

TEL AVIV -- An Israeli court dismissed the statute of limitations as irrelevant in the case of a Jew who has been held as a suspect in a murder case by the Israel Security Agency for 21 days without formal charges. "I am not going to... Read More

ISRAELI GOVT. TRANSFERS $1 MILLION TO GAZA

JERUSALEM -- In a move approved by the government, Israel will transfer $3.89 million NIS [$1 million] in cash from the West Bank to the Palestinian Authority in Gaza in early July. Unofficial sources said that the money will be withdrawn from the Postal Bank in... Read More

PALESTINIANS SUE GUSH KATIF FARMERS IN A FLURRY OF LAWSUITS

JERUSALEM -- In the latest flurry of more than 200 lawsuits, Palestinian workers in Gaza are claiming compensation from 400 Israeli farmers expelled from the Gaza Strip in 2005. Palestinians, aided by the Yesh Din Human Rights Organization, are continuing to file a flurry of lawsuits... Read More

ISRAEL REDUCES ADMINISTRATIVE ORDERS FOR ARABS, NOT JEWS

JERUSALEM -- The government has overhauled guidelines to reduce administrative detentions for Arabs in the West Bank while continuing to issue administrative expulsion and detention orders to Jews. The Justice Ministry has overhauled its policy for issuing administrative orders to Arabs in the West Bank in... Read More

ISRAELI STATE PROSECUTION INDICTES U.S. CITIZEN FOR MURDER ON BASIS OF CONFESSIONS

JERUSALEM -- An American Jewish immigrant, held incommunicado for three weeks, has been indicted for 14 crimes, including two murders and numerous attempted murders, on the basis of what the prosecution admits was mainly his confessions. The State prosecution has admitted that U.S. citizen Yaakov [Jack]... Read More

ISRAEL CONDUCTS SECRET ARREST CAMPAIGN AGAINST RIGHTISTS

JERUSALEM – Israel Secret Service has launched an arrest campaign against the right-wing opposition, accusing young activists of everything from killing Arabs to gays. Israel's military, police and domestic intelligence agency have conducted raids of suspected right-wing activists in the West Bank. Those arrested were warned... Read More

ISRAEL'S STATE PROSECUTION PURSUES JEWISH DISSIDENTS

JERUSALEM -- Israel's State Prosecution has intensified law enforcement measures against Jewish dissidents protesting its policies. For the second time in as many weeks, police arrested demonstrators outside the home of Deputy State Prosecutor for Special Affairs Shai Nitzan and immediately issued criminal indictments against them... Read More

ISRAELI POLICE, COURTS LENIENT WITH LEFT-WING ACTIVIST

JERUSALEM -- Israeli police refused to arrest a convicted left-wing activist during a confrontation between Jews and Arabs days after he was sentenced to a month in jail and six months probation for similar crimes in the West Bank. Three days after he was sentenced to... Read More

ISRAELI POLICE ARREST BRITISH CITIZEN TO DENY HER ACCESS TO HUSBAND HELD BY ISS

JERUSALEM -- Israeli police arrested a British citizen to prevent her from seeing her husband, an American citizen and a former marine, held without legal counsel for over two weeks by the Israeli Security Services. Police arrested R. T., a mother of four, en route from... Read More

ISRAEL SECURITY SERVICES DENIES U.S. CITIZEN LEGAL RIGHTS

JERUSALEM -- Israel's secret security services have denied a Jewish American citizen his legal rights to meet with an attorney since his arrest a week ago. Israel's Security Services [Shabak] arrested Y.T on Oct. 7 in an apartment in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Har Nof but... Read More

ISRAELI STATE PROSECUTION RELENTLESS IN PURSUING JEWISH DISSIDENTS

JERUSALEM -- An Israeli court reversed a decision to release a Jewish dissident after the state prosecution petitioned to appeal the release in a higher court. On October 14, Jerusalem Magistrate Ram Vinograd ordered Elhanan Groner distanced from the home of Deputy State Prosecutor Shai Nitzan... Read More

ISRAELI MILITARY EXPELS THREE JEWS FROM WEST BANK HOMES

JERUSALEM -- Israel's military has served administrative expulsion orders to three Jewish residents of the West Bank community of Yitzhar. Israeli Army Central District Commander Maj.-Gen. Gadi Shamni signed administrative orders to evict three Jews from their homes in the northern Samarian community of Yitzhar and... Read More

EU SUED FOR ATTACKS ON ISRAEL

TEL AVIV -- The European Union has been sued in connection with Hamas missile attacks on Israel from the Gaza Strip. European nationals in Israel have filed suit against the EU for relaying hundreds of millions of Euros to the Gaza Strip, Middle East Newsline reported... Read More

ISRAELI DEFENSE MIN. SHIELDS HAMAS OPERATIVE

JERUSALEM -- Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak shielded from prosecution a Hamas operative accused of attacking Jewish farmers in the West Bank, a court was told. Barak signed a gag order that concealed the publication of the identity of the Hamas attacker who was also the chief complainant in... Read More

ISRAELI ATTORNEY SAYS POLICE HARASS JEWISH SETTLERS

JERUSALEM -- An Israeli attorney has asserted that police have implemented a policy of harassment against residents of Jewish communities in the West Bank. Defense Attorney Yehuda Shimon said that police raided the Jewish farming community, Havat Gilad, early Aug. 4 and arrested five Jews, including... Read More

LEADING ISRAELI LAWYER: HIGH COURT IS ANTI-SEMITIC

JERUSALEM -- A leading trial lawyer asserted that Israel's High Court has embarked on an anti-Semitic policy of selective law enforcement that stipulates the immediate demolition of all unlicensed Jewish homes. Leading attorney Yoram Sheftel accused Israel's High Court of selective law enforcement in decisions to... Read More

ISRAELI GOV'T FREEZES DEMOLITION OF ILLEGAL ARAB CONSTRUCTION IN W. BANK

JERUSALEM -- The Israeli government has allowed illegal Arab construction in all areas of the W. Bank while continuing to destroy illegal Jewish outposts. A recent report by the Civil Administration said that the army and the police have routinely enforced demolition orders against illegal Jewish... Read More

ISRAELI JUDGE CRITICIZES POLICE FOR UNLAWFUL ARRESTS

TEL AVIV -- An Israeli magistrate has criticized police for arresting and detaining right-wing activists who gathered in a southern city for a protest march towards Gaza. "The use of the power of government and the authority to arrest in order to prevent this right of... Read More

ISRAELI GOV'T URGES PRES. TO EXPUNGE CRIMINAL RECORDS FOR CONVICTED JEWISH DISSIDENTS

JERUSALEM -- Israel's Justice Ministry, in an attempt to prevent parliamentary legislation for an amnesty for all non-violent anti-government protesters against the expulsion of Jews from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank, has requested presidential pardons for a small group who have already been convicted and sentenced. ... Read More

NEWS UPDATES JULY-SEPTEMBER 2008

The Knesset has passed legislation on the first reading to close the cases of more than 400 minors, indicted for acts of passive disobedience against the government's expulsion of 10,000 Jews from the Gaza Strip and nothern West Bank in August 2005. The law has to pass a second... Read More

JEWISH TEENAGE GIRLS DETAINED FOR CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE

TEL AVIV -- An Israeli Juvenile Court released two teenage girls who were jailed for non-violent acts of civil disobedience and ordered one of them to be detained under full house arrest until the end of judicial proceedings. The two girls, 16 and 17 years old,... Read More

ISRAELI COURT ORDERS INSULTED PUBLIC OFFICIAL TO TESTIFY IN CASE AGAINST JEWISH DISSIDENT

JERUSALEM -- An Israeli court has ordered the main prosecution witness to testify in the case of a Jewish dissident convicted of insulting a public servant to protest the government's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank. Jerusalem Magistrate David Mintz ordered the state... Read More

ISRAELI GOVERNMENT PRESSURES JUDGE TO SENTENCE JEWISH DISSIDENTS

JERUSALEM -- An Israeli magistrate is under pressure by the government to reverse an acquittal and order stiff prison sentences for three Jewish dissidents. Jerusalem Magistrate Rachel Shalev-Gertal quoted a senior government official as being personally interested in pursuing the conviction and sentencing of Jewish dissidents... Read More

ISRAEL LAW CENTER CONTINUES TO SUE ISRAELI BANKS DELIVERING CASH TO GAZA

TEL AVIV -- Israeli attorneys, who sued Israel's Poalim and Discount Banks for delivering cash to the Palestinian Authority in Gaza, have said they will sue any bank that agrees to the government's demand to supply money to the PA, amid the war with the Hamas regime. ... Read More

ISRAELI POLICE TRAIN TO FIGHT WEST BANK JEWS

TEL AVIV -- The Israeli police conducted an unprecedented exercise meant to counter Arab and Jewish unrest in 2009. About 6,000 officers participated in a Dec. 18 exercise meant to simulate the demolition of a Jewish community in the West Bank as well as riots in Arab... Read More

ISRAELI COURT POSTPONES RETRIAL OF JEWISH DISSIDENT

JERUSALEM -- An Israeli court postponed the retrial of a Jewish dissident after the state prosecution, which appealed the acquittal, failed to provide a prosecutor. Jerusalem Magistrate David Mintz acquitted Nadia Matar, head of the Women in Green right-wing group, of insulting a public official after... Read More

ISRAELI JUDGE OVERTURNS CONVICTION OF VIOLENT POLICEMAN AT AMONA

JERUSALEM -- In a rare decision, an Israeli judge overturned a conviction against a violent policeman who admitted to assaulting a peaceful anti-government protester. In a sentencing hearing at the Jerusalem Magistrates Court, Judge Yehezkiel Barkali overturned the conviction of police officer David Atia. Atia had... Read More

ISRAELI POLICE ARREST YOUTH AND FORCE THEM TO PROFANE SABBATH

JERUSALEM -- In the latest crackdown on West Bank Jews, Israeli police arrested a teenager and forced him to profane the Sabbath as part of a campaign to roundup and investigate youth who protest against the government. "Plain-clothed detectives came from behind and arrested me at... Read More

ISRAELI POLICE ARREST YOUTHS AS PART OF GOV'T CRACKDOWN AGAINST W. BANK JEWS

JERUSALEM -- As part of a government crackdown, Israeli police have arrested Jewish youths caught hanging posters in the West Bank. Defense Minister Ehud Barak has pledged to crackdown on Jewish settlers as part of a campaign against Jews in Judea and Samaria. ... Read More

ISRAELI JUDGE REJECTS GOV'T PRESSURE TO CHANGE DECISION

JERUSALEM -- An Israeli judge has refused to succumb to pressure from the State Prosecution and police to change her decision and imprison a Jew indicted for attacking Arabs, Jerusalem Magistrate Malka Aviv released to house arrest a resident of the Jewish West Bank community of... Read More

ISRAELI COURT SENTENCES JEWISH TEENAGERS TO PRISON FOR TEARING BAG OF OLIVES

JERUSALEM -- An Israeli juvenile court has sentenced two Jewish teenage girls to three and four months respectively for interfering with Arab olive harvesters and tearing two sacks of olives. "The court is ordered, so it appears to me, to be an important link in defeating... Read More

ISRAELI JUDGE RULES HEBRON HOUSE DEMOLITION ILLEGAL

JERUSALEM -- Amid a bid by Israel's Defense Minister Ehud Barak to evict Jewish residents from a home in the West Bank city of Hebron, an Israeli judge has ruled that last month's destruction of a Hebron Jewish home and eviction of the residents was illegal. ... Read More

ISRAELI COURT ORDERS RENEWED PROSECUTION OF JEWISH DISSIDENTS

JERUSALEM -- An Israeli court, acting in the absence of the defendants and their attorney, ordered renewed prosecution of three Jewish dissidents for protests against the government's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank in 2005. Shai Malka, Adiel Sharabi and Ariel... Read More

ISRAEL IMPLEMENTS STIFF PENALTIES AGAINST JEWISH ACTIVISTS

ISRAEL IMPLEMENTS STIFF PENALTIES AGAINST JEWISH ACTIVISTS JERUSALEM -- In a move intended to quash anti-government dissent in West Bank Jewish communities, police have served another administrative expulsion order to a Jewish activist. Police have served an administrative expulsion order to Yaron Kilav, a resident of... Read More

ISRAELI PRISON AUTHORITIES RESTRICT RIGHTS OF JEWISH SECURITY PRISONERS

JERUSALEM -- Israel's prison authorities have severely restricted prisoner rights of Jewish security prisoners in what appears to be the result of an administrative decision in connection with the government's policy of destroying Jewish communities in the West Bank. The prisoners, deemed security prisoners by the... Read More

ISRAEL COURT REMANDS JEWISH DISSIDENT TO COMMUNITY ARREST AMID GOV. CRACKDOWN ON SETTLERS

KFAR SABA -- An Israeli court ordered a Jewish dissident, charged with assaulting a police officer, to be held under community arrest and post a bond of $1,145 until the start of her trial, as part of a government crackdown on Jewish settlement in the West Bank. ... Read More

ISRAEL LAUNCHES OFFENSIVE AGAINST WEST BANK JEWS

JERUSALEM -- The Israel Army has launched an offensive against Jewish dissidents in the West Bank. Military sources said the army's Central Command has been ordered to dismantle unauthorized Jewish outposts and arrest organizers in the West Bank. The sources said the military has assessed that... Read More

ISRAELI JUDGE RELEASES JEWISH NATIONALIST FROM FOUR MONTHS IN JAIL DESPITE A FAULTY INDICTMENT

KFAR SABA -- An Israeli judge released a Jewish nationalist, who languished in jail for over four months, after reversing a previous ruling of a faulty indictment to convict her on all charges. "I changed my mind about the indictment," Kfar Saba Magistrate Clara Rejiniano said... Read More

ISRAELI POLICE USE ARAB PROVOCATEURS IN AMBUSH OF JEWISH HIKERS

JERUSALEM -- Israeli police, in what appears to be a new tactic to quell Jewish nationalists, have begun to use Arab provocateurs in the West Bank. Police have acknowledged that they used Arab stone throwers to stop young Jews from hiking through the West Bank on... Read More

ISRAELI COURT EXPELS THREE JEWS FROM WEST BANK WITHOUT TRIAL

JERUSALEM -- An Israeli court has ordered three Jews expelled from the West Bank without a trial or evidence as part of a military clampdown on Jewish movement in the region. Jerusalem Magistrate Ilta Siskind ordered the three who live in West Bank Jewish communities, Efrion... Read More

IMPRISONED SECURITY GUARDS PETITION SUPREME COURT TO FORCE PRESIDENT TO RULE ON PARDON

JERUSALEM -- Two Jewish security guards, imprisoned for shooting in the air to disperse a group of Bedouins who had infiltrated their community, have petitioned the president to decide immediately on their request for a pardon. Over two months ago, the Justice Ministry approved the... Read More

TRIAL OF DISSIDENT LEADS TO ARMY CLOSURE OF JEWISH COMMUNITY

KFAR SABA -- Police prosecutors in the trial of Rivka Meirchik, languishing for a fourth month in jail, have used the case to prove Arab land ownership of the Jewish community of Shvut Ami despite the ruling by Kfar Saba Magistrate Clara Rejiniano that the indictment does not include... Read More

ISRAELI RABBI CONVICTED OF INSULTING PUBLIC OFFICIAL

JERUSALEM -- An Israeli court has convicted a rabbi of insulting a senior military official at Jerusalem's holy Western Wall in the wake of the government's expulsion of 10,000 Jews from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank in August 2005. Jerusalem Magistrate Haim Li-Ran convicted... Read More

POLICEMAN CONVICTED OF BRUTALLY ASSAULTING PROTESTER AT AMONA

JERUSALEM -- An Israeli court has convicted a police officer of assaulting an anti-government demonstrator without any provocation. Jerusalem Magistrate Court Judge Yecheskiel Barkali convicted police officer David Atia of assaulting David Ledwin, 22, an anti-government demonstrator who protested the demolition of nine houses in the... Read More

JEWISH DISSIDENT BROTHERS APPEAL TO ISRAELI SUPREME COURT AGAINST HARSH SENTENCE

JERUSALEM -- Two Jewish dissidents have appealed to Israel's Supreme Court against their harsh sentences for an anti-Disengagement protest in May 2005. The brothers, Mordechai and Elitzur Harel Levinstein, who spent more than a year under house arrest and close to 14 months in jail since... Read More

NEWS BRIEFS FEB. - MAY 2008

On May 5, Supreme Court President Dorit Beinisch postponed the start of the prison terms for Dan and Yitzhak Halamish, two Jewish security guards, convicted of assaulting 20 Bedouins who surrounded them with sticks and rocks on land belonging to the Jewish community of Sde Bar in eastern Gush... Read More

3 YEARS LATER JEWISH ANTI-EXPULSION PROTESTER RE-IMPRISONED

BEERSHEBA -- Almost three years later, a Jewish anti-expulsion protester has been re-imprisoned following an unusually harsh ruling by Israel's Supreme Court. Shimshon Cytryn, 21, was sent back to prison for another eight months after the Israel's State Prosecutor's Office appealed to the Supreme Court against... Read More

ISRAELI POLICE PROSECUTORS USE TRIAL OF DISSIDENT TO SET PRECENDENT FOR TRESPASSING INDICTMENTS

KFAR SABA -- Israel's police prosecution has admitted to using the trial of a Jewish dissident, remanded for a fourth month in jail, to decide a land ownership case and to issue multiple indictments for trespassing. During the summations in the trial of Rivka Meirchik,... Read More

SENIOR ISRAELI POLICE OFFICER ADMITS TO ORDERING VIOLENT REMOVAL OF PARLIAMENTARIAN

JERUSALEM -- A senior Israeli police officer has admitted that he ordered police to forcibly remove a parliamentarian, involved in passive civil disobedience, from an anti-government protest, causing him serious injury. "I would allow zero time for dialogue [with them]," Brig.-Gen. Meir Bukovza, deputy commander of... Read More

DRACONIAN PROSECUTION GUIDELINES AGAINST JEWISH DISSIDENTS STILL IN USE

JERUSALEM -- An Israeli parliamentarian has admitted that the harsh prosecution guidelines implemented to arrest and indict anti-government protesters against the expulsion of 10,000 Jews in 2005 are still in use. "I was very familiar with the very harsh [prosecution] guidelines in the period of the... Read More

ISRAELI POLICE HARASS JEWISH DISSIDENTS IN NEW COMMUNITIES

KFAR SABA -- Israeli police have begun arresting Jewish dissidents in what appears to be a recent crackdown on anti-government dissent in newly formed Jewish communities in the West Bank. In recent weeks, police from the Judea and Samaria regional department have begun arresting and interrogating... Read More

ISRAELI JUDGE CITES FAULTY INDICTMENT BUT SENDS JEWISH DISSIDENT BACK TO JAIL

KFAR SABA -- A young Jewish woman has been held in prison for three months on an indictment that the judge has deemed faulty. Kfar Saba Magistrate Clara Rejiniano ruled on July 2 that the indictment in the trial of Rivkah Meirchik, held until the completion... Read More

ISRAELI SUPREME COURT DOUBLES SENTENCE OF JEWISH ANTI-GOVERNMENT PROTESTER

JERUSALEM -- In a rare decision, Israel's Supreme Court has more than doubled the punishment of a Jewish anti-government protester, sentenced by a lower court to community service for assaulting an Arab in the Gaza Strip in June 2005. The Supreme Court overturned a decision by... Read More

ISRAELI JUDGE ACCEPTS POLICE EVIDENCE IN LIGHTNING HALF-MINUTE HEARING

KFAR SABA -- An Israel judge spent less than one minute to order a Jewish woman prisoner back to jail despite the lack of a formal indictment. In a move that the defense termed unprecedented, Kfar Saba Magistrate Nitza Maimon Shashua spent less a minute before... Read More

ISRAELI JUDGE AGAIN POSTPONES DECISION ON RELEASE OF JEWISH DISSIDENT

KFAR SABA -- An Israeli judge postponed a decision on the release of a frail Jewish dissident who continues to languish in prison for two months despite a ruling by a higher court that her arrest was illegal. On June 1, Kfar Saba Magistrate Nitza Maimon... Read More

ISRAELI JUDGE DEEMS JEWISH DISSIDENT CASE IDEOLOGICAL

KFAR SABA -- An Israeli judge has sent a Jewish dissident back to jail for another month after deeming the defendant's refusal to cooperate with the authorities an ideological crime. Rivka Meirchik, 29, who participated in Jewish settlement and was arrested almost two months ago, is... Read More

JEWISH SECURITY GUARDS BEGIN PRISON SENTENCES

JERUSALEM -- Two Jewish security guards were jailed despite a final plea to the Supreme Court to grant a stay of sentence while a presidential pardon is under consideration. The Supreme Court failed to answer the final appeal by the Dan and Yitzhak Halamish and they... Read More

ANOTHER YOUNG JEWISH WOMAN LANGUISHES IN JAIL WITHOUT TRIAL

KFAR SABA -- A young Jewish woman who participated in Jewish settlement has become the second Israeli this year to languish in prison for refusing to cooperate with prosecutors. Rivka Meirchik is the second young Jewish woman this year to languish in the Neve Tirza prison... Read More

SUPREME COURT DENIES JEWISH SECURITY GUARDS STAY OF SENTENCE

JERUSALEM -- Israel's Supreme Court has denied two Jewish security guards the right to a stay of proceedings despite a presidential plea. On May 4, Supreme Court Judge Salim Jubran rejected an appeal by the Halamish brothers to postpone judicial proceedings until President Shimon Peres considers... Read More

ISRAELI COURT ALLOWS DISSIDENT PERUSAL OF INSULT CASES

JERUSALEM -- An Israeli court rejected the appeal by the state prosecution against an order to avail a defendant of one year's worth of cases of insulting a public official. Jerusalem District Court Judge Yehudit Tsur said that the material should be available to the defense... Read More

NEWS REVIEW [JAN.-MARCH 2008]

An 18 year-old Jewish teenager has remained in jail for two months without trial after she refused to cooperate with authorities. Tzvia Sariel was arrested after she threw a stone at Arabs who had come to harvest olives in her home community of Elon Moreh in the West Bank.... Read More

TWO JEWISH SECURITY GUARDS REPRIEVED AT LAST MINUTE

JERUSALEM -- An Israeli judge has given a last minute reprieve to two security officers on the eve of their sentence for protecting a Jewish community. Several hours before the two Jewish security guards, brothers Yitzhak and Dan Halamish, were due to start a prison sentence... Read More

POLICE AND PRISON AUTHORITIES MISTREAT YOUNG JEWISH GIRLS

JERUSALEM -- For the young Jewish girl, Z., her night in jail was an experience she never learned in school. Arrested at an anti-government demonstration, the Jewish teenager learned first-hand that the harsh policy of the government of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert against Jewish dissent. ... Read More

STATE PROSECUTION ASKS FOR COMMUNITY SERVICE IN INCITEMENT TO RACISM TRIAL

JERUSALEM -- Israel's state prosecution has asked for community service in the trial of a Jewish activist convicted of inciting to racism, punishable by five years. In a pre-sentencing hearing, Prosecutor Nurit Langertal Schwartz asked that Jerusalem Magistrates Court Judge Rivka Freedman- Feldman sentence Yekutiel Ben... Read More

JEWISH GIRL FREED AFTER JUDGE ACKNOWLEDGES NO REASON FOR IMPRISONMENT

KFAR SABA -- An 18 year-old Jewish girl was freed by an Israeli judge who acknowledged that there was no reason for her imprisonment. "I have decided to acquit the defendant from the offenses she is charged with because of reasonable doubt," Kfar Saba Magistrate Nava... Read More

ISRAELI POLICE ADMIT NO REASON FOR JEWISH ROUNDUP

JERUSALEM -- Israeli police have acknowledged that they grabbed demonstrators off the streets of Jerusalem for no reason. Police told a Jerusalem court judge that many of the 22 protesters, most of them minors, were arrested in a March 16 protest without cause. The judge then... Read More

JEWISH GIRL IN SOLITARY CONFINEMENT AFTER RABBINICAL COURT ORDERS IMMEDIATE RELEASE

JERUSALEM -- In what was deemed an unprecedented move, an 18 year-old Jewish girl was sent to a rabbinical court in an attempt to convince her to cooperate with the secular Israeli judiciary in a criminal case. Tzvia Sariel was taken to a hearing before a... Read More

ISRAEL'S JUDICIARY DENIES RESPONSIBILITY FOR JUDGE

Jerusalem -- Israel's judiciary system has disassociated itself from the conduct of a Kfar Saba magistrate who sent an 18 year-old Jewish girl to prison for a fourth month despite the recantation of the prosecution's chief witnesses. The Justice Ministry said it was not responsible for... Read More

ISRAELI JUDGE SENDS JEWISH TEENAGER FOR FOURTH MONTH TO JAIL WITHOUT FORMAL CHARGES

Kfar Saba -- An Israeli judge, who refused to issue her ruling publicly, sent a Jewish protester for a fourth month to jail, without formal charges. Judge Nava Bechor sent Tzvia Sariel, 18, back to jail after a hearing in which two key witnesses testified that... Read More

ISRAELI PRISON DENIES RIGHTS TO JEWISH TEENAGER

KFAR SABA -- Israeli prison authorities twice denied requests by a Jewish teenager, held for three months without trial, to attend the funerals of both her grandparents. "They wouldn't allow her out for the funeral," Ruth Sariel, Tzvia Sariel's mother, said. "They behaved as if she... Read More

COURT ORDERS STATE PROSECUTOR TO DISCLOSE DECISIONS ON FEEEDOM OF SPEECH AND INFORMATION CASES

JERUSALEM -- An Israeli court has instructed the state prosecutor's office to disclose decisions on issuing indictments in cases of freedom of speech and freedom of information in the trial of a Jewish critic of Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank in August 2005. ... Read More

ISRAELI ARMY PREVENTS AMBULANCE FROM TREATING JEWISH YOUTHS

JERUSALEM -- The Israeli army has prevented Jewish youths from receiving civilian medical treatment after they were injured by Arabs in a rock-throwing melee. Israel's Magen David Adom ambulance service confirmed that a senior Israel Defense Army officer ordered three injured Jewish youths to be transferred... Read More

PROSECUTOR OFFERS RELEASE IF JEWISH TEENAGER CONFESSES

JERUSALEM -- Israeli state prosecutors have offered to release a Jewish teenager who has spent close to three months in jail without trial if she confesses to all the charges against her. "If she admits all the facts, then we'll release her," Ruth Sariel, the mother... Read More

ISRAELI STATE PROSECUTION CONTINUES TO DEMAND SPECIAL TREATMENT FOR EXPULSION PROTESTERS

JERUSALEM -- The government continues to demand special treatment for protesters against the expulsion of 16,000 Jews from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank in August 2005. More than two years after the unilateral withdrawal, the state prosecution said those who fought the expulsion could... Read More

ISRAEL COURT SENTENCES ANTI-DISENGAGEMENT PROTESTERS TO STIFF PENALTIES

JERUSALEM -- An Israeli judge has sentenced two Jewish activists to years in prison for a road-blocking protest against the Disengagement in August 2005. More than two years later, Tel Aviv District Court Judge George Kara sentenced Mordechai and Eltizur Harel Levenstein to 40 months... Read More

ISRAELI COURT RELEASES YOUNG JEWISH GIRL AND ADMITS KNOWING IDENTITY

JERUSALEM -- An Israeli court has released one of the seven young Jewish girls who refused to identify herself and who was held for close to one month despite the fact that her identity was known to the authorities from the outset. "They knew who... Read More

ISRAEL'S STATE PROSECUTION LEAVES TEENAGERS IN PRISON

JERUSALEM -- The state prosecution has said it will not advocate the release of seven teenage girls who have been imprisoned for more than two weeks for refusing to identify themselves. "It's impossible to release them if they don't identify themselves," Deputy State Prosecutor for Special... Read More

PROSECUTORS ORDER HARSH PENALTIES FOR ANTI-GOVERNMENT PROTESTS

JERUSALEM -- The state prosecution has directed police, prosecutors and judges to use the same draconian guidelines for prosecuting Jews arrested in anti-government protests that were used to arrest more than 8,000 Jews prior to the government's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank in August 2005. ... Read More

NEWS ROUNDUP 2007

On Oct. 16, the Kfar Saba Magistrates Court released several teenager girls, 12 to 14 year-olds, into their parents custody. The girls were arrested at the Shvut Ami outpost in the West Bank after they refused police orders to leave. They were taken to the Neve Tirza womens' prison... Read More

ISRAELI POLICEMAN SENTENCED FOR BRUTAL ASSAULT OF JEWISH TEENAGER

TEL AVIV -- An Israeli court sentenced two police officers convicted of assaulting a Jewish teenager to community service in one of the few cases in which authorities agreed to prosecute police officers for brutality against anti-withdrawal protesters. "Violence in any situation is an evil sickness... Read More

ISRAELI POLICE ADMIT ILLEGAL CONFISCATION OF EVIDENCE

KFAR SABA [Israel] -- Israeli police admitted that officers confiscated film footage of what 46 Jewish teenage demonstrators deemed police brutality during the mass arrest in a new outpost in the West Bank. "We only confiscated one [film] cartridge from a person who was not a... Read More

ISRAELI COURT DISMISSES APPEAL AGAINST POLICE BRUTALITY

JERUSALEM -- An Israeli court has dismissed the appeal against the acquittal of a border policemen charged with brutally assaulting an anti-government demonstrator in the West Bank Jewish community of Amona in February 2005. A three-judge panel at the Jerusalem District Court advised the prosecution in... Read More

ISRAELI COURT SPARES PRISON FROM JEWISH YOUNGSTER CHARGED WITH ATTEMPTED MURDER

BEERSHEBA -- An Israeli court, dismissing prosecution evidence of attempted murder, spared a prison sentence from a Jewish youngster who participated in an Arab-Jewish rock throwing melee in the Gaza Strip in 2005. Shimshon Cytryn, 20, who the prosecution charged with attempted murder which carries... Read More

ISRAELI POLICE LEAD DEMOLITION EFFORT OF JEWISH PROPERTY IN W. BANK

JERUSALEM -- Israeli police have been designated the lead agency in a government program to demolish Jewish homes and outposts in the West Bank. Police commanders have been leading forces comprised of soldiers and police officers in demolishing unauthorized Jewish homes in the West Bank.. The... Read More

ISRAELI COURT ORDERS POLICE TO PAY DAMAGES TO JEWISH DEMONSTRATORS

JERUSALEM -- An Israeli court has awarded $7,500 in damages to three Jewish teenagers who were assaulted by policemen during an anti-Disengagement demonstration. Jerusalem Magistrates Judge Shimon Feinberg ordered two border policemen, Aatad Shnan and Tzion Muallem, to pay $7,500 [30,000 shekels] in damages to three... Read More

ISRAELI COURT CITES SELECTIVE PROSECUTION IN SEDITION ACQUITTAL

JERUSALEM -- An Israeli court, citing selective prosecution, has acquitted three Jewish activists of sedition and incitement against the government. Jerusalem Magistrates Court Judge Rachel Shalev-Gertal acquitted the three defendants -- Shai Malka, Ariel Vangrover and Adiel Sharabi -- of sedition and incitement in connection with... Read More

ISRAELI ARMY REFUSES DISENGAGEMENT PROTESTERS

JERUSALEM -- The Israeli military, in violation of its own policy, has refused to recruit youngsters who protested the expulsion of 16,000 Jews from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank in 2005. Israeli teenagers who sought to block the military expulsion of the Jews said... Read More

DEFENSE CHARGES GOV'T CAMPAIGN TO PREVENT PROTESTS

JERUSALEM -- An Israeli opposition group has charged that the government seeks to prevent peaceful protests against plans to withdraw from the West Bank. An attorney for a Jewish anti-government activist said the Israel Security Agency, responsible for domestic intelligence, has been targeting right-wing protesters in... Read More

ISRAELI PROSECUTION ACCUSED OF POLITICAL BIAS

BEERSHEBA, Israel -- An Israel defense attorney has accused the state of political bias in the prosecution of a Jewish teenager convicted of assaulting a Palestinian stone-thrower. Defense attorney Yarom HaLevi said the prosecution discriminated against Shimshon Cytryn when it indicted him on charges of attempted... Read More

ISRAELI JUDGE DISMISSES EXPULSION LAW AS OUTDATED

KFAR SABA, Israel -- In what could set a precedent, an Israeli judge has invalidated a 2005 law that facilitated the expulsion of 16,000 Jews from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank. Judge David Gadol of the Kfar Saba Juvenile Court said there was no... Read More

ISRAELI POLICE IGNORE ARAB DESTRUCTION OF JEWISH VINEYARD

ISRAELI POLICE IGNORE ARAB DESTRUCTION OF JEWISH VINEYARD JERUSALEM -- Israeli police and the army refused to intervene as a group of more than 100 Arabs and left-wing Israelis and foreign supporters uprooted and destroyed a Jewish vineyard west of Ramallah in the West Bank. On Aug.... Read More

ISRAELI COURT OVERTURNS ACQUITTAL OF GOVT. CRITIC

JERUSALEM -- An Israeli court has overturned a lower court's decision to acquit a Jewish dissident on charges of insulting a government official who played a major role in the expulsion of 16,000 Jews from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank in 2005. On July... Read More

JEWISH DISSIDENT AGAIN ESCAPES PRISON SENTENCE

JERUSALEM -- For the second time in as many months, a Jewish dissident who refused to cooperate with the Israeli justice system has escaped a prison sentence. Jerusalem Magistrates Court Judge Alexander Ron sentenced Miriam Adler to community service and pay damages to officers who claimed... Read More

COURT REJECTS SELF-DEFENSE APPEAL BY JEWISH GUARDS

JERUSALEM -- An Israeli court, acknowledging flaws in the police investigation, has rejected the appeal by two Jewish security guards convicted of firing toward Arab attackers in the West Bank. The Jerusalem District Court asserted that police failed to conduct ballistic tests and a suspect lineup... Read More

POLICE PROBE INTO JEWISH GUARDS FLAWED

JERUSALEM -- Israeli authorities have acknowledged significant flaws in a police investigation that led to the conviction of two Jewish security guards charged with firing toward Arab attackers in the West Bank. An Israeli state prosecutor has admitted mistakes in the police investigation that led to... Read More

ISRAEL REFUSES TO EVICT ARAB SQUATTERS FROM JEWISH HOME

JERUSALEM -- Israeli authorities, ignoring a court decision, have refused to evict Arab squatters from a Jewish-owned property in the nation's capital. The police have refused to implement a court order to evict an Arab clan who had been living in a Jewish-owned home for more... Read More

ISRAELI COURT CLEARS POLICEMAN OF BRUTALITY

JERUSALEM -- An Israeli court, accepting evidence after the conclusion of a trial, has acquitted a border policeman of assaulting a reserve army colonel during an anti-government protest in the West Bank. Jerusalem Magistrates Court Judge Haim Li-Ran acquitted border policeman Eyal Fero of aggravated assault... Read More

POLICE INSTRUCTED TO USE FORCE IN HOUSE DEMOLITIONS

JERUSALEM -- Israeli police underwent special training for an assault on thousands of protesters during the demolition of nine homes in a Jewish community in the West Bank in 2006. A senior Israeli police officer testified that 1,300 troops were told to club, trample... Read More

ISRAEL PREPARES FOR MASS CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE TRIALS

JERUSALEM [IsraelJustice.com] -- Israel has prepared for the trials of nearly 150 people, most of them minors, charged with resisting the military expulsion of 16,000 Jews from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank in 2005. The government has prepared virtually identical indictments for the 146... Read More

ISRAELI FACES 20 YEARS FOR THROWING OBJECT IN MELEE

BEERSHEBA -- A Jewish settler faces 20 years in prison for hurling an object that missed a Palestinian teenager during a rock-throwing melee in the Gaza Strip in 2005. Shimshon Cytryn, who lives in the Jewish community of Nahliel in the West Bank, was convicted of... Read More

POLICEMEN CONVICTED OF ASSAULTING DETAINED JEWISH PROTESTER

TEL AVIV -- Two police officers have been convicted of severely beating a handcuffed Jewish teenager who had protested the government's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank. Tel Aviv Magistrates Court Judge Hanan Efrati convicted police officers Eran Naim, 36, and his deputy... Read More

ISRAELI POLICE SAID TO IGNORE ARAB ATTACKS IN W. BANK

HEBRON, the West Bank -- On a recent Friday morning, about 15 Arabs from a village south of Bethlehem entered the tiny Jewish community of Sde Boaz, uprooted trees and destroyed equipment. When Jewish residents ran to the scene the Arabs began to fight them, swinging sticks and hoes. ... Read More

JEWISH DISSIDENT ESCAPES PRISON SENTENCE

KFAR SABA, Israel -- A Jewish dissident expelled from her home in the West Bank, refusing to cooperate with the justice system, has escaped a prison sentence. Miriam Adler, convicted on May 3 of assaulting a police officer and disturbing the peace, was sentenced to three... Read More

POLICE SUSPECTED OF FABRICATING EVIDENCE IN ATTACK ON JEWS

JERUSALEM -- Israeli police might have fabricated evidence to conceal an order to assault thousands of Jewish protesters in the West Bank. An Israeli research center said a video released by police of a briefing to anti-riot forces in February 2006 was significantly revised. The video... Read More

JEWISH SPOKESWOMAN FACES JAIL FOR MISTAKEN POLICE RAID

JERUSALEM -- A Jewish settlement spokeswoman faces a prison sentence in wake of a midnight raid by Israeli plainclothes security officers who without a warrant or identification assaulted her family. Miriam Adler has been acquitted of charges that she violated military orders for expulsion and house... Read More

JUDGE: ISRAEL DISCRIMINATED AGAINST WITHDRAWAL OPPONENTS

BEERSHEBA -- A senior judge has acknowledged that Israel's judiciary discriminated against opponents of the government's expulsion of 16,000 Jews from the Gaza Strip and the northern West Bank. The judge said courts and prosecutors applied a different set of standards to the thousands of demonstrators... Read More

JUDGE TERMS CRACKDOWN ON ANTI-WITHDRAWAL PROTEST 'WAR'

TEL AVIV -- In a defense of police brutality, a judge has termed the government crackdown against the civil disobedience campaign to block the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and West Bank a "war." Judge Hanan Efrati appeared to justify the behavior of police charged... Read More

ACQUITTAL COULD DETERMINE ISRAELI CRACKDOWN ON DISSENT

JERUSALEM -- Israeli authorities have linked a major element in their crackdown on Jewish nationalists to a right-wing dissident acquitted on charges of insulting a senior official. Judicial sources said a key tool in the government campaign against right-wing opponents could hinge on whether authorities win... Read More

PROSECUTORS ORDER HARSH PENALTIES FOR ANTI-WITHDRAWAL PROTESTS

JERUSALEM -- The government has directed police and prosecutors to ignore evidence, rush indictments and request stiff penalties for those who protest the Israeli withdrawal policy from the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The State Prosecutor has ordered police to arrest those who protest Israel's withdrawal... Read More

VIDEO, MEDICAL RECORDS DON'T MATCH IN TRIAL

BEERSHEBA -- The defense has asserted that a video of a clash between Israelis and Palestinians in the Gaza Strip differs from that of a medical report of an injured Palestinian stone-thrower. The attorney for Shimshon Cytryn, charged with attempted murder of the Palestinian, said the... Read More

ISRAEL RUNS SECRET UNIT TO MONITOR WITHDRAWAL OPPOSITION

JERUSALEM -- Israel's domestic security agency has been operating a secret unit designed to monitor and infiltrate opposition to the government's withdrawal policy from the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The secret unit was established in February 2005 as the government prepared for the withdrawal from... Read More

STATE PROSECUTES CRITIC OF MILITARY RABBI

JERUSALEM -- An Israeli rabbi has been standing trial on charges of insulting the military's chief rabbi despite his pronouncement that he has forgiven the alleged offense. In a trial, presided over by Judge Ilta Siskind, that has highlighted the government crackdown of critics of Israel's... Read More

SUPREME COURT OVERTURNS JAIL TIME FOR DISSIDENTS

JERUSALEM -- Israel's Supreme Court has overruled a decision to again imprison two anti-government protesters. A three-judge panel dismissed a lower court ruling that sentenced two French immigrants to an additional six months in connection with their participation in a protest against the government decision to... Read More

SEDITION TRIAL DEEMED TEST OF ISRAELI CIVIL RIGHTS

JERUSALEM -- The prosecution of three alleged leaders of a massive civil disobedience campaign has been deemed a test of Jewish civil rights in Israel. The prosecution said the trial of three unknown defendants charged with sedition -- in connection with the campaign against Israel's expulsion... Read More

KNESSET APPROVES DRACONIAN REGULATIONS WITHOUT RIGHT OF PERUSAL

JERUSALEM -- Israel's parliament has approved draconian measures against Jewish opponents of the government's withdrawal policy without being allowed to read the document. The government measures, said to remain in effect today, were approved by a special Knesset committee in late 2005 in a closed session.... Read More

POLICE ARGUE OVER METHODS TO QUELL CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE

TEL AVIV -- Police commanders have openly argued over the methods approved to overpower those opposed to the government withdrawal of the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank. One commander asserted that police were ordered to strike sensitive areas of the bodies of protesters. Another... Read More

JUDGE SENTENCES SETTLEMENT SECURITY TEAM TO JAIL

JERUSALEM -- An Israeli judge, citing their nationalist views and opposition to the government, sentenced two members of an army-trained defense group to jail in connection with the shooting of Arab attackers in the West Bank. Judge Amnon Cohen sentenced two brothers, Dan, 36 and Yitzhak... Read More

JUDGE CHALLENGES SEDITION INDICTMENT OF JEWISH DISSIDENTS

JERUSALEM -- A Jerusalem judge has challenged an indictment of three Jewish dissidents charged with sedition in connection with the campaign to halt Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank in 2005. Judge Rachel Shalev-Gertal demanded an explanation for the indictment... Read More

ISRAELI TEENAGER CHARGED WITH ATTEMPTED MURDER IN MELEE

BEERSHEBA -- A 19-year-old Israeli-American has been charged with attempted murder for what he said was throwing a clump of sand during a melee with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Shimshon Cytryn faces a maximum of 20 years in jail if convicted in connection with a rock... Read More

ISRAEL ADMITS SELECTIVE POLICY ON 'INSULT' LAW

JERUSALEM -- Israel has conducted what officials have termed a selective policy in enforcing a 1936 law to prosecute those who insult a civil servant. A state prosecutor acknowledged this policy during an appeal of a Jewish dissident cleared of charges of insulting an official. Over... Read More

ADMINSTRATIVE EVICTEES ARRESTED WITHOUT WARRANTS

JERUSALEM -- Police forced entry into a home in the Jewish community of Yitzhar in the West Bank and arrested the resident without an entry or arrest warrant. Special police forces and plainclothes detectives forced entry into the home of Boaz Albert on Nov. 5 and... Read More

SETTLEMENT LEADER ADMITS TO BOGUS DISOBEDIENCE CAMPAIGN

JERUSALEM [Israeljustice.com] -- Jewish settlement leaders spent millions of dollars and recruited hundreds of thousands of supporters in a bogus civil disobedience campaign designed to facilitate the government plan to evict 16,000 Jews from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank in 2005. The head of... Read More

ONE YEAR AFTER EXPULSION, SUPPORTER REMAINS IN EXILE

JERUSALEM -- In August 2005, Akiva HaCohen drove his wife and baby to the Gaza Strip in an attempt to be with the 10,000-member Jewish community on the eve of their expulsion by the government of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. HaCohen, 22, never made it... Read More

POLICE ADMIT MISTAKE BUT JUDGE SENDS JEWISH DISSIDENT TO JAIL

JERUSALEM -- Daniel Pinner can't understand how an Israeli court could sentence him to two years in jail for shooting a Palestinian when the chief police investigator testified that this might have been a mistake. In April, Pinner, a 40-year-old resident of the West Bank Jewish... Read More

SHIMSHON CYTRYN RELEASED FROM JAIL

JERUSALEM -- A Supreme Court judge has ordered the release of a 19 year-old accused of attempted murder of a Palestinian on the eve of Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in 2005. In a hearing on Sept. 3, Supreme Court Judge Edmond Levy ruled... Read More

GOVERNMENT ISSUES EVICTION ORDERS

JERUSALEM -- Israel's military has served eviction orders to more than 30 Jewish residents of the West Bank. Jewish community sources said the eviction orders were issued over the last month in part to avoid clashes during the Arab olive harvest. They said the Jews were... Read More

GOVERNMENT INCREASES MONITORING OF OLMERT PROTESTERS.

TEL AVIV -- The government of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has increased monitoring of critics of the Israeli-Hizbullah war in Lebanon. Police have begun visiting the homes of protesters to determine their plans, particularly whether they plan to attend state memorial ceremonies. Some of the protesters... Read More

DEFENSE MINISTRY ORDERS OFFENSIVE IN WEST BANK

TEL AVIV [MENL] -- Israel plans to resume a campaign to demolish several Jewish communities in the West Bank. Defense Minister Amir Peretz has ordered the Israel Army to prepare to destroy about 100 homes in the West Bank. Military sources said Peretz wants the army... Read More

TIRZA SARIEL RELEASED FROM JAIL

JERUSALEM -- A 15 year-old imprisoned for 11 weeks for refusing to recognize the authority of the Israeli justice system has been released. On Sept. 19, Jerusalem District Court Judge Noam Solberg unconditionally released Tirza Sariel from an adult women's prison. A week earlier, Tirza had... Read More

TEENAGE GIRL TRANSFERRED TO ADULT PRISON

JERUSALEM -- A 15-year-old Jewish girl who spent 10 weeks in a Jerusalem jail has been transferred to an adult prison. Tirza Sariel, a resident of the northern West Bank community of Elon Moreh, was arrested on charges of disrupting the Palestinian olive harvest late last... Read More

RABBI ARRESTED FOR INCITEMENT TO VIOLENCE AGAINST ARABS

JERUSALEM -- A rabbi has been arrested and charged with incitement to violence in connection with a magazine article written in 2002. Rabbi Yosef Peli was arrested on Sept. 12 at his home in the Jewish community of Yitzhar in the northern West Bank. The rabbi... Read More

ISRAEL'S SUPREME COURT REJECTS APPEAL OF SENTENCING OF GAZA JEW

JERUSALEM -- The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal to overturn the two-year sentence of a Jew who fired when attacked by Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. The court refused to dismiss the April 2006 sentence of Daniel Pinner, who was convicted of "willful and malicious... Read More

ISRAELI JUDGE DISMISSES INDICTMENT AGAINST JEWISH DISSIDENT

JERUSALEM -- An Israeli judge, in what could mark an unprecedented ruling, has dismissed an indictment of a Jewish dissident who accused a former senior official of practicing a Nazi-style leadership. In an unusual decision, Jerusalem Court Judge David Mintz rejected an indictment approved by Attorney... Read More

JUDGE DELAYS DECISION IN TRIAL OF 15 YEAR OLD GIRL

TEL AVIV -- A 14 year-old girl was sent to prison for 40 days for refusing orders to leave a demonstration against Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank last year. Chaya Belogorodsky was arrested at a demonstration against the government's plan to... Read More

COURT AWARDS MINOR COMPENSATION

JERUSALEM -- In a landmark decision, the Ramle small claims court has ruled that a minor who was beaten by the chief warden of the Maasiyahu Prison last year is entitled to compensation. On Sept. 7, the court ruled that the 17 year-old who filed charges against... Read More

SOLDIER JAILED FOR REFUSING LAST YEAR TO SERVE IN DISENGAGEMENT

JERUSALEM -- More than a year after the operation, an Israeli reservist was dragged off to jail for refusing to participate in the expulsion of 16,000 Jews from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank. Assaf Ben-Avi, 27, a reservist in the elite Givati brigade was... Read More

ISRAELI JUDGES ORDERED TO CRACK DOWN ON TEENAGE DISSIDENTS

JERUSALEM -- Oriya Shirel has been placed in solitary confinement in a high-security Israeli prison. She cannot receive visitors. She has no access to the canteen. Technically, Oriya should not even be under detention. She has not committed any crime. Indeed, a judge even berated police for... Read More

MILITARY PREPARES AGAINST W. BANK OUTPOSTS

JERUSALEM [MENL] -- Three days after the start of a shaky ceasefire in Lebanon, Israel's military has been ordered to prepare for an evacuation of Jewish outposts in the West Bank. Military sources said the military's Civil Affairs Administration has begun preparing eviction orders against several Jewish... Read More