Slippery Slope

Tel-Aviv Magistrate’s Court Justice, Yaron Bashan, accepted Ilan Lavyam’s lawsuit against the IDF for damages caused to him after finding out that a military medical committee determined that he suffers from epilepsy.  The committee came to the conclusion without his presence or knowledge, and following its decision the Department of Motor Vehicles invalidated his driver’s license.  Despite the committee’s decision, Lavyan does not suffer from epilepsy.

(Hebrew - Ynet)

An Ethiopian citizen who suffered severe sexual abuse and is in her sixth month of pregnancy has been held in the Saharonim Detention Center since November instead of being released to a shelter for victims of human trafficking, because the Ma’agan shelter in the center of the country, which gives shelter to abused women, had no vacancy.

(Hebrew - Haaretz)

The Jerusalem District Labor Court has ruled that, in contrast to the Police version of events, it is doubtful if Ahmed Mahmoud Khatib, and Israeli Arab who was shot and killed by a security guard in the Old City of Jerusalem, had intended to conduct a nationalistic motivated terror act.  The court ordered the National Insurance Institute to pay his widow and two children a survivors’ allowance.

(Hebrew - News1)

B’Tselem and the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) have filed an appeal against the decision of the Police Investigations Unit (PIU) to close three cases that were opened following complaints it had received, and asked to copy the investigative files on behalf of the complainants.  Studying of the files has shown faults in the PIU treatment of the cases.  In two of the cases attorney Gabi Lasky has filed an appeal to the State’s Attorney on behalf of B’Tselem.  Another case has been transferred to ACRI which has filed an additional appeal. (B’Tselem)

(Hebrew - B’Tselem)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is planning to approve the construction of 551 new housing units in the West Bank, in addition to 300 units approved for Beit El, as part of a package of “candies” he announced, in light of the eviction of five houses in the Beit El neighborhood of Givat HaUlpana.

(Hebrew - Walla)

The Ministry of Finance transferred National Insurance pensions to thousands of Holocaust survivors which are lower than those stipulated by law, thus denying them of tens to hundreds of thousands of Shekels each.

(Hebrew - nrg)

An indictment has been served against three Border Guards who are accused of robbing Arabs, while using their uniforms and weapons to give the appearance of representing a legal authority. (Ynetnews)

Settlers cut down 20 olive trees belonging to Palestinians near the village of Jabaa near Gush Etzion.

(Hebrew - HaKol HaYehudi)

Police officers arrived at a school in Ramat-Gan over the weekend following complaints of noise, and tazed a teenager, who fled from the scene with his friends.

(Hebrew – Ynet)

A new report by human rights organization, Amnesty International, documents violations of human rights related to administrative detention and claims that administrative detainees were subject to torture and abuse during their investigation, as well as to humiliation and cruelty during their detention, often as punishment for holding a hunger strike.  The report further claims that Israel denied the detainees family visits, forcibly transferred, deported and/or placed some of them in solitary confinement.

(Hebrew - Walla)