The Shin Bet is responsible, among other things, for investigating Jewish terrorism in the occupied West Bank — a mission it carries out, albeit leniently and reluctantly. With Zini, we fear that these investigations will fade entirely>
David Zini is no neutral figure. He is publicly known for his messianic settler worldview, his open identification with religious-nationalist circles, and his statements about Jewish identity as a political and moral mission>
His arrest is illegal and he must be freed without delay. Our joy at the freeing of prisoners and hostages cannot be complete until everyone is free.
2. The Shin Bet wields extraordinary authority of intelligence gathering on Israelis and Palestinians and interrogations, performed with secrecy and without oversight. This power has repeatedly been abused to violate the human rights of Palestinians. Now, this is guaranteed to become even worse>
1. Against the backdrop of the last occurrences in Gaza, the Israeli government is appointing dangerous radicals to key positions, making permanent the extreme-right rule over Israeli institutions: a week and a half ago, David Zini was appointed as head of Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency)>
3/3 This incident was a response to an attack by Palestinian gunmen who killed an Israeli soldier - an attack that was itself committed in the context of repeated Israeli violations of the ceasefire terms. As long as Israeli troops control Gaza, the Palestinian population will not be safe.
We urge the international community to monitor these developments closely. The threat to human rights of Palestinians and Israeli leftists has just become more severe. Israel’s right-wing government must be restrained. Germany must condition its support of Israel on the protection of human rights.
2/3 We must not normalize this brutality. We must demand that Israel stick to the ceasefire terms and that it immediately proceed to its second stage, which will see the Israeli troops leaving Gaza.>
1/3 In the past 24 hours, Israel killed over 100 Palestinians in Gaza, including over 40 children.
Such a massacre would have shaken global opinion to the core just a few years ago, but after 2 years of genocide, it now seems commonplace, and the world has become anesthetized>
The force of the Shin Bet is also directed against Palestinian citizens of Israel, left-wing activists, journalists, and anyone who dares to criticize the government. We fear that under Zini’s leadership, the use of the Shin Bet to stifle dissent will increase>