ABSTRACT
On 25 February 1994, Dr. Baruch Goldstein, a Jewish settler and a close associate of the late Meir Kahane,2 entered the Tomb of Machpellah (the burial place of the Patriarchs and their wives) in Hebron and massacred 29 Palestinians praying in the mosque inside the Tomb. Following this murderous attack, the government decided to outlaw the two splinter movements associated with the Kahanist ideology-Kach and Kahane Is Alive3-and to detain some of the leading activists in these movements. The aim of this chapter is to examine the use of and rationale for administrative (known also as preventive) detention in Israel. I start the discussion by reflecting on the legal grounds that enable the use of administrative detention. I continue with a brief examination of how this measure has been used by Israeli authorities against Palestinians and proceed by focusing attention on the use of administrative detention against Jews in the struggle against political extremism. The argument I put forward is one of principle. I assert that-as a matter of principle-the mechanism of administrative detention is unacceptable in democracies. The only justifiable exception may be at a time of grave emergency to the nation’s security. In this context a distinction is made between latent emergency and real emergency. Most civil rights are suspended for the duration of hostilities, but they should not be suspended long after wars have ended.4 Thus I argue that administrative detention is appropriate only during periods when the security or continued existence of the state is seriously threatened, and only if implemented against particular individuals after careful examination of evidence gathered against them from several sources. At other times, criminal proceedings are the appropriate actions to take against persons allegedly involved in seditious and/or violent activities.
