Secret evidence reveals political motivations behind ban on MK Tibi’s visit to Palestinian political prisoner Marwan Barghouti
On 20 November 2024, the State Attorney’s Office submitted a paraphrased summary of classified material that was presented by the Israel Prison Service (IPS) and the Shin Bet (the Israel Security Agency, Shabak) ex parte, in the absence of the petitioners, during a Supreme Court hearing held on 11 September 2024. The hearing addressed a petition filed by Member of Knesset (MK) Dr. Ahmad Tibi (of the Hadash-Ta’al political party) and Adalah to challenge the ban imposed by Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir and the IPS on visits by MK Tibi to Palestinian prisoners, in place for over a year and a half. The petition asserts that it is MK Tibi’s right to conduct essential parliamentary oversight in prisons through visits.
The petition was filed after the Israeli authorities failed to provide any substantive response to MK Tibi’s repeated requests to visit and meet with two prisoners: the late Walid Daqqa and Palestinian political leader Marwan Barghouti. This ban follows Minister Ben-Gvir’s revocation of a previous policy governing MKs’ visits to prisoners. Instead, under Ben-Gvir’s new policy, only one representative per political party is permitted to conduct such visits. Despite these restrictions, MKs from Ben Gvir’s own party, Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power), have been repeatedly granted access to Jewish security prisoners.
CLICK HERE to read more about the petition
CLICK HERE to read the response [in Hebrew]
HCJ 3507/24 MK Ahmad Tibi et al. v. Minister of National Security et al.
Ahead of the September hearing on the petition, the State Attorney’s Office submitted a response on behalf of Minister Ben-Gvir, the IPS Commissioner, and the Attorney General. The response addressed MK Tibi’s specific request to visit Marwan Barghouti, and introduced a claim that there were security concerns about such a visit for the first time.
However, summaries of the classified evidence given by the Shin Bet and the IPS indicate that the alleged security concerns are not linked to any specific threat posed by MK Tibi’s potential visit, and nor are they related to the security of the prison facilities. Rather, their objections are based on concerns about “raising [Barghouti’s] political status,” “enhancing the prisoner’s public image,” and “legitimizing the Palestinian armed struggle”. The Shin Bet further clarified that this position does not “stem from any actions by MK Tibi or specific intelligence about him,” but rather from the broader implications of an Arab MK visiting a security prisoner, which could encourage “Israeli Arabs to join the struggle”.
Making explicit the discrimination in the treatment of Jewish and Palestinian prisoners, the IPS further stated that comparisons to “visits by Knesset members to Jewish security prisoners” are not valid. The IPS argued that Jewish security prisoners represent “an entirely different population. Unlike those associated with a terrorist organization, each prisoner is an individual in their own right”.
The respondents continue to ignore the principal issues raised in the petition, including the denial of MKs’ oversight of the executive branch’s treatment of Palestinian security prisoners. MK Tibi’s request is urgent due to Barghouti’s prolonged solitary confinement, continuous since 15 December 2023, and reports of alleged assaults and torture against him by prison guards. The backdrop of widespread torture and inhumane conditions of confinement faced by Palestinian prisoners and detainees since 7 October 2023 makes parliamentary oversight even more urgent.
Adalah further commented:
“Under the guise of security concerns, the state is attempting to legitimize the unlawful denial of Arab MKs’ right to conduct parliamentary oversight. These attempts are driven by Minister Ben-Gvir, who leads a policy of harassing and torturing Palestinian prisoners. The security establishment’s justification for banning MK Tibi’s visit to Barghouti is rooted in political and not security concerns, and aims to suppress the Palestinian narrative and undermine Barghouti as a political leader. This stance reflects deeply racist views shared by Ben Gvir, the Shin Bet, and the Attorney General, who collectively label all Palestinian citizens as the enemies of the state, even their elected representatives in the Knesset.”
