Court orders the deletion of Gisha’s petition against the policy of requiring Gaza residents to report to security screenings with their cellphones
July 26, 2017
For some time now, Gaza residents have received summonses for what the military calls ‘security interviews’ at Erez Crossing, as a condition for having their travel permit applications approved. As reported in the media, traders and medical patients have also been summoned for such interviews. Gisha has heard multiple accounts from Gaza residents who said that they were asked to hand over their cellphones upon arrival for the interview. If residents did not have cellphones with them, the interview was cancelled and they were turned away. In some cases, residents received a written response after the fact, stating that providing the cellphone was essential for the security screening to take place, and that the screening cannot be completed, nor the application approved, without it. In addition, in a notice delivered via e-mail to international organizations working in Gaza in February 2017, the Gaza CLA declared that the new directive was that anyone reporting for an interview would be obligated to bring their cellphone.
Gisha maintains that this demand is unlawful and unacceptable. According to Israeli law, CLA authorities have no right to demand a person report to a security interview with any specific item, let alone a cellphone. The CLA personnel only have authority to conduct a physical search of the applicant and of whatever items are in his or her possession at the time of the interview. Moreover, the demand is unreasonable, since Gaza residents cannot bring their cellphones with them: Palestinian authorities near Erez Crossing require everyone passing through for a security interview on the Israeli side of Erez to leave their cellphones behind, meaning that Gaza residents cannot comply with the CLA’s requirement. If this were not enough, the requirement is implemented arbitrarily and inconsistently, as CLA officials do not always insist on examining residents’ cellphones and sometimes conduct the interviews without them.
On March 20, 2017, Gisha wrote a letter (Hebrew) to the attorney general, asking him to instruct the relevant officials to rescind the cellphone requirement. Shortly thereafter, Gisha was informed (Hebrew) that the letter had been referred to Deputy Attorney General Adv. Dina Zilber (Public-Administrative Law). Though four months have passed since, Adv. Zilber’s response is yet to arrive.
Gaza resident B.Z. was directly harmed by this policy. He was given a date for a visa interview at the American Consulate and made several permit applications to the CLA in order to attend it. When his application was processed he was called in for a security interview, which he attended without his cellphone. CLA personnel refused to conduct the security screening and told Gisha that the processing of the application could not be completed.
On June 19, 2017, Gisha filed an administrative petition (Hebrew) against this decision with the District Court in Beersheva. The petition called for both an individual remedy (approval of B.Z.’s request to travel and receive consular services even without providing the cellphone), and a general remedy (a court instruction to rescind the cellphone requirement altogether).
On July 5, 2017, the state filed its response (Hebrew). It stated that given the new sweeping prohibition on travel from Gaza to the American Consulate in Jerusalem, B.Z.’s request had become moot and therefore, that there was no reason to discuss his case or the general remedy sought with respect to the cellphone requirement. Following Gisha’s response, the judge ordered (Hebrew) that the petition remain pending for one month, until the state provides an update on enabling Gaza residents’ travel to the American Consulate.
A month later, on July 23, 2017, the state notified (Hebrew) the court that the sweeping prohibition was still in place and that B.Z.’s petition should therefore be dismissed. Gisha objected (Hebrew), asking to stay the decision in the case until a solution is found for the issue of travel to the American Consulate. Gisha also argued that the overall policy regarding cellphones should be reviewed, emphasizing that it had not been reviewed in the context of the case. The judge refused to discuss the overall issue and ordered the petition be deleted on July 25, 2017 (Hebrew), holding that Gaza residents have no right to enter Israel, and that the state’s decision was reasonable.
