The November issue of IDI’s Terrorism and Democracy Newsletter includes six articles. First, we review a report published by two Israeli human rights NGOs, which analyzes Israel’s use of administrative detention to intern Palestinians. The second article presents some short updates on recent developments related to the "Goldstone Report" – resolutions by the General Assembly and by the US House of Representatives, as well as a statement by the IDF Chief of Staff. The third article provides a short update on the progress of the discussions on the amendment of the Civilian Tort Act (State Responsibility), which was also discussed in the previous issue. This bill modifies the definition of "combat action immunity," thereby changing the State’s responsibilities vis-à-vis compensation for harm caused by its counter-terrorism activities. In the fourth article, we briefly address a declaration by the Israeli Security Cabinet that designated 50 foreign terrorist organizations. The fifth article discusses a recent case in which the Dutch Court of Appeals rejected a petition of the decision to refrain from criminal proceedings against the former Chief of the Israeli Security Agency, Ami Ayalon. The sixth article reviews a decision issued by the Israeli High Court of Justice in which the Court rebuked the Israeli Government for delaying the execution of an order to reroute the separation barrier.
The monthly IDI Terrorism and Democracy Newsletter aims to shed light on some relatively unknown measures and policies adopted by Israel or related to Israel, and to foster discussion on the balance between security interests, on one hand, and democratic principles and human rights, on the other hand. It surveys recent developments in Israeli law and practices that are intended to reduce or repress terrorist threats. IDI believes that a greater knowledge of Israel's experience in this area may be of value to other societies; we also believe that engaging in international and comparative discourse about Israel's experience is valuable to Israeli society.