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Several reservists arrested for protests without any real legal basis – Israel News

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The Israel Defense Forces have suspended several reservists from their reserve service after they were arrested during protests, raising concerns that there may be political bias within the force, according to Legal Aid for Protesters.

The organization, which provides free legal assistance to protesters, said in a letter to the Israel Defense Forces’ chief military lawyer, Major General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, that the enforcement was selective and there were concerns about political bias.

“We have found that many reservists have been prosecuted under criminal circumstances unrelated to the protests and have not been automatically released by the Israeli army,” said the letter, sent Wednesday by the organization’s lawyers, Yoni Nussbaum and Gonen Ben Itzhak.

The organisation called on Tomer-Yerushalmi to “intervene in those cases where there is no real basis for a criminal offence that requires the reservist to be suspended from duty for such a long period.” They also called on her to “examine the legality and legal justification of the decisions (to suspend the reservists), in particular to ensure that they are in line with constitutional principles and the necessary balance between maintaining public order and individual rights.”

Gantz with reservist paratroopers 390 (Source: IDF spokesman)

The lawyers raised a number of questions in the letter, asking for clarification on who has the authority to decide on the suspension of soldiers and on what IDF order this decision is based. They also asked whether reservists are allowed to present their side of the story before the decision to suspend their service is made.

The letter highlighted other issues surrounding the suspensions, saying charges against individuals could remain in place “until their cases are resolved or even beyond,” which it said could take at least a year.

They also stressed that in cases where several people are arrested at an event (for example, a demonstration), all charges against all members of the group may appear in the files of all those arrested.

Number of arrests exceeds 1000

Since the beginning of 2023, around 1,600 protesters have been arrested and only seven of them have been charged, leading to speculation that police are using the arrests as a means of deterring protesters and that those arrested are not guilty of any criminal offense.

The decision to halt the deployment of protesters comes at a time when Israeli security officials have expressed that Israel needs more soldiers. According to multiple reports, Gallant told a meeting of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee this week that the Israel Defense Forces were 10,000 soldiers short.

The Israel Defense Forces Spokesperson’s Unit said that the temporary suspension of arrested reserve soldiers was a general rule, but the suspension could expire before the court proceedings were completed.

“A reservist who is arrested will be temporarily suspended from reserve service until the proceedings in his case are completed or until a decision is made in his case by an authorized body regarding his return to reserve service,” the unit said.

“A reservist who has been provisionally suspended from reserve service and whose case has not yet been finalized may apply to the Reserve Division officials in the Human Resources Department with a request to review his case.”

Eliav Breuer and Yonah Jeremy Bob contributed to this report.



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