Arrested soldiers' phones searched for 'right-wing statements'
Soldiers in ultra-Orthodox Netzah Yehuda battalion arrested, suspected of beating Palestinian detainees; document obtained by Ynetnews reveals searches on the soldiers' phones for 'right-wing' statements.
The first indictments against seven soldiers who are suspected of beating Palestinian detainees will be issued on Thursday afternoon even as documents obtained by Ynet show that investigators were instructed to search their phones for "right-wing statements."
The soldiers, who were arrested on Wednesday, all belong to the IDF's ultra-Orthodox Netzah Yehuda battalion and investigators looked for suspicious comments in Whatsapp and Facebook conversations among themselves or with friends who are not currently under suspicion.
They were also told to search for words connected to "beating a Palestinian."
The soldiers claim that the order to search for "right-wing statements" is sweeping and harmful, because it is not thought of as a criminal offense for soldiers to express either right-wing or left-wing statements among themselves.
"It is sad and shocking to see that the Military Police investigators chose, during the course of the investigation, to scour the personal phones of the soldiers," said lawyer Hai Habar, who is representing two of the arrestees on behalf of legal aid organization Honenu.
"This is not just a search for statements connected to the investigation, but rather according to their definition of 'right-wing statements,' something that is not just an invasion of privacy but also an invasion of areas that should not be of interest to the military," Habar continued.
"It would be interesting to see if a search for left-wing statements is also on the agenda."
The army responded that the subject is under investigation.
Following a battle during the last two years by the army's legal defense, the police's ability to investigate statements made on the mobile phones of soldiers under suspicion has been greatly restricted.
The submission of petitions to the military court led to a number of changes in this regard. Soldiers can now oppose searches of their phones and investigators are ordered, if they are searching phones, to focus only on words, films and pictures relevant to the investigation.
Investigators themselves are forbidden from studying or viewing content stored on a soldier's phone. Instead, the search is conducted digitally on a computer.
Three of the arrested soldiers are suspected of beating a Palestinian who was arrested in the Jenin area around two weeks ago. The soldiers told investigators that they used reasonable force against the Palestinian, who refused to leave a room he was in at the military base following his arrest.
The soldiers also claimed that the Palestinian banged his face on the floor and caused his injuries himself. Following an extension of the investigation at hand other recent incidents were discovered, concerning an additional four soldiers from the Nezah Yehuda battalion who were involved in beating Palestinians who had been arrested in the West Bank.
Some of the arrested soldiers deny any connection to the events under investigation.
