Shin Bet unlawfully interrogated IDF soldier on Jewish holiday, denied right to counsel

Approximately three weeks ago, an enlisted IDF soldier and three additional individuals were arrested on suspicion of being involved in a brawl with Arabs in the coastal city of Hadera last month.

In a rare move, the suspects were interrogated by the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) and were denied a meeting with a lawyer for 72 hours. The Honenu advocacy organization, which represents the suspects, has revealed that they were unlawfully interrogated during the Shavuot holiday and were denied legal counsel.

At the beginning of the week, the Hadera Magistrate's Court ordered that the suspects be released to house arrest and denied the Shin Bet and police's request to extend their detention.

Due to the interrogation on the Jewish holiday, Attny. Keidar sent a letter to the police and the Shin Ben and protested their conduct toward the suspects: "First, I shall point out that we are protesting the use of a Shin Bet interrogation, and all that it implies, in this case, which has no connection with the Shin Bet. The Shin Bet brags and complains to suspects that it's wasting time with Jewish investigations instead of investigating Arabs, and here, it is doing this in practice. In addition, I request to clarify not to give any weight to 'interrogations' conducted during the Shavuot holiday, and if that was not enough, the suspects were not notified of their right to legal counsel, and counsel was not provided for them. Is the Shin Bet above the law?"

He added that "in this case, there was no room to involve the Shin Bet, and it was done only to apply pressure by denying rights like the right to legal counsel and harsh prison conditions which would cause worthless confessions. However, the fact that even after preventing a meeting, the Shin Bet has the gall to prevent the right to counsel is severe and needs the involvement of the command immediately."