Israeli lawmaker calls for B'Tselem chief to be arrested for 'assisting the enemy'

An Israeli lawmaker has written a letter to the head of the police calling for the detention and interrogation of the director of Israeli human rights group B'Tselem, following a speech she made at the United Nations Security Council earlier this week.

Tally Gotliv, a member of Israel's parliament, penned the letter to Israeli Chief Police Commissioner Daniel Levy on Thursday, calling for Yuli Novak, B'Tselem's executive director, to be questioned. 

On Wednesday, Novak told the UN Security Council via video link that Israel had pursued a goal of "Jewish supremacy" over the past 11 months, since its war on Gaza began following the 7 October Hamas-led attacks. 

The surprise attack by Palestinian fighters on southern Israeli communities in October killed more than 1,000 Israelis, and dozens of foreigners. Around 250 others were taken captive back to Gaza.

Since then, Israeli forces have killed more than 40,000 Palestinians in the enclave, the majority of whom are women and children. 

"To understand the Israeli government's criminal conduct over the last 11 months, you have to understand the overall goal of this regime," Novak told the Security Council. 

"Since Israel was founded, its guiding logic has been to promote Jewish supremacy over the entire territory under its control."

She said that Israel's far-right government had exploited the collective trauma of Israelis following the 7 October attacks "to violently advance its project of cementing Israeli control over the entire land".

'Expulsion, starvation and killing'

She added Israel was committing daily war crimes, including "expulsion, starvation, killing and destruction on an unprecedented scale". 

"Every day that this council does not act on the court's call to end the occupation and apartheid is another day you are abandoning us, the people of this land, who are suffering and dying in tens of thousands needlessly under a cruel and unjust apartheid regime," Novak said. 

B'Tselem is one of the most prominent rights groups in Israel, which, notably, released an eight-page report in January 2021 calling Israel an apartheid state. 

'Every day that this council does not act on the court's call to end the occupation and apartheid is another day you are abandoning us'

- Yuli Noval, B'Tselem

Gotliv, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party, called on Novak to be probed by Israeli police "for the suspected serious crime of assistance to the enemy in war". 

She said that such a crime was an offence under Section 99 of the penal law, "which carries the death penalty or a life sentence". 

"Novak has shamefully put the state of Israel, currently engaged in a war for survival, at risk and assisted Israel’s enemies on various fronts," the lawmaker wrote, accusing the activist of telling lies about Israel committing war crimes. 

She said Novak's "horrific remarks" had put Israel's military objective and freeing Israeli captives "at risk" and had assisted "the enemy in its mendacious allegations against the heroic IDF fighters". 

"An immediate investigation should be initiated with instructions to interrogate enemy sympathiser Novak in detention conditions, given the grave threat associated with her conduct and the potential harm to the State of Israel in a time of war," she concluded. 

Shai Parnes, a spokesperson for B'Tselem, told Middle East Eye that the organisation stood to protect human rights, "even when the Israeli government chooses to neglect its basic duty to protect its citizens and the subjects under its control". 

"While the government chooses occupation and war over saving human lives, and promotes a policy that is contrary to international law and the principles of justice and equality, we will continue to act on behalf of all those who suffer from violations of their rights. 

"We will continue to fight for human dignity and freedom. Human rights are universal and non-negotiable."