Israel: State protection available in Israel to Palestinians who collaborate or are suspected of collaborating with Israel; available recourses (2003-January 2005)

General situation of Palestinians suspected of collaborating with Israel

Since the beginning of the Al-Aqsa Intifada in 2000 (The Guardian 2 Apr. 2002), the assassination of dozens of Palestinian in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip has demonstrated that "[c]ollaborators, and their protection, [are] a big problem for Palestinian security services" (Middle East Online 3 Sept. 2004).

For more information on the treatment of Palestinians suspected of collaborating with Israel, please see PAL42588.E of 26 April 2004.

Protection available to Palestinian collaborators

According to a 22 May 2002 article in The Christian Science Monitor, certain human rights groups have suggested that around 15,000 Palestinians are collaborating with Israel in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. A former Shin Bet (Israel's internal security service) agent who was involved in recruiting Palestinian informants said that Israel promises protection in the Jewish state to collaborators who are discovered (The Christian Science Monitor 22 May 2004). Protected collaborators are typically high-ranking informants; Shin Bet either assigns them a new identity and places them in neighbourhoods developed by Shin Bet where former Israeli informants live or sends them overseas (ibid.).

The article also indicates that some lower-ranking collaborators, who were dissatisfied with the protection offered by Israel, were preparing a legal case (ibid.). However, no information on that case could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

According to a report from the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA), a Palestinian man collaborating with Israel indicated that he was abandoned by Israel following the signing of the Oslo peace accords because he was no longer considered to be useful (23 May 1997). After 1993, Israel offered hundreds of former collaborators the chance to resettle in Israel; many of them accepted (JTA 23 May 1997).

Recourses available to Palestinian collaborators

According to a gay rights activist in Israel who was quoted in Courrier International, a gay Palestinian man who remains in Israel for a while may be suspected of collaborating with Israel, but [translation] "no administrative body is willing ... to grant a temporary resident permit to a Palestinian homosexual, even if he obviously does not pose problems to security and collaborates with Israel" (24 June 2004).

In 1997, the JTA indicated that a program was being implemented to assist Palestinian collaborators; the program took care of about 1,000 collaborators' families living in Israel, but that number did not include some 3,000 Palestinian collaborators' families who did not have legal residence permits (JTA 23 May 1997). The families who resettled legally received financial assistance-sometimes as much as hundreds of thousands of American dollars-from the Israeli government (ibid.; see also Embassy of Israel 3 Nov. 2004). However, a collaborator quoted in the JTA article said that he could not leave the West Bank because the Israeli authorities would not grant his adult children Israeli residence permits (23 May 1997).

A 22 July 2004 PM (ABC) transcript indicated that hundreds of Palestinian collaborators felt betrayed, claiming that Israel had broken its promise to give them citizenship or long-term residency. Many of those who fled to Israel are afraid of having to return to the West Bank or the Gaza Strip, where they risk being killed (PM 22 July 2004). However, no corroboration of this information could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

During a 3 November 2004 telephone interview, the consul from the Embassy of Israel in Ottawa provided the following information. Palestinians who work with the Israeli government for Israeli security purposes generally are entitled to financial assistance, accommodations, a job and tuition for their children. In some cases, these people may obtain Israeli citizenship if they are not Israeli. For example, if a person were discovered in the Gaza Strip, he or she would be sent to Israel because of his or her contact with Israel.

Recourses available to Palestinians wrongly accused of being collaborators

According to the information obtained from the consul at the Embassy of Israel in Ottawa, a Palestinian living in the West Bank or the Gaza Strip who is suspected of being a collaborator would file a complaint to the police if he or she were in a "normal" country (3 Nov. 2004). However, because Palestinian authorities are not sympathetic to the cause of an alleged collaborator, he or she could not receive police protection and would be in danger (Embassy of Israel 3 Nov. 2004).

Protection available to Arab-Israeli collaborators

The consul from the Embassy of Israel in Ottawa said that, since Arab-Israeli citizens are treated the same as Jewish citizens, they would have a right to the protection offered by Israel if they were seriously threatened (3 Nov. 2004). The Israeli police are therefore responsible for protecting those people (Embassy of Israel 3 Nov. 2004).

Recourses available to Arab-Israeli collaborators

The following information was provided in correspondence dated 9 November 2004 from the Director of the Mossawa Centre, an organization that aims to promote Arab-Israeli citizens' rights. Israel offers accommodation, special identity cards, jobs (including in the army) and special protection to Arab-Israelis who "collaborated with Israeli authorities." However, Israel also encourages these collaborators to leave the country. The exact amount of the Ministry of Defence's budget allotted to collaborator's needs is not made public.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

The Christian Science Monitor [Boston]. 22 May 2002. Catherine Taylor. "How Israel Builds its Fifth Column." [Accessed 4 Nov. 2004]

Courrier International [Paris]. 24 June 2004. No. 712. Joseph Algazy. "Israël – Palestinien, gay et clandestin." (Haaretz)

Embassy of Israel in Ottawa. 3 November 2004. Telephone interview with the consul.

The Guardian [London]. 2 April 2002. Peter Beaumont. "Palestinians Kill Suspected Collaborators." [Accessed 19 Nov. 2004]

Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA). 23 May 1997. Gil Sedan. "Arab Collaborators Who Assisted Israel Feel Neglected." [Accessed 20 Dec. 2004]

Middle East Online. 3 September 2004. Majeda El-Batsh. "Israel's Informants Fail to Infiltrate Hamas." [Accessed 4 Nov. 2004]

Mossawa Center, Haïfa. 9 November 2004. Correspondence from the director.

PM. 22 July 2004. Mark Willacy. "Collaborators Accuse Israel of Betrayal." (ABC Online) [Accessed 20 Dec. 2004]

Additional Sources Consulted

Attempts to contact the following organizations were unsuccessful:

– Adalah: The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel

– Amnesty International, Israel

– The Arab Association for Human Rights, Israel

– Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI)

– B'Tselem

– Hamoked

– Israel-Palestine Center for Research and Information (IPCRI)

– Rabbis for Human Rights

Internet sites, including : Al-Ahram, Al-Jazeera, Amnesty International (AI), Arab Association for Human Rights, B'Tselem, European Country of Origin Information Network (ECOI), Freedom House, Haaretz, Human Rights Watch (HRW), Jane's Intelligence Review, Jane's International Police Review, Jane's Terrorism and Security Monitor, Jerusalem Post, Jordan Times, Middle East Times, Palestine Human Rights Monitoring Group (PHRMG), Palestine News Agency – Wafa, Palestine Times, Palestinian Center for Rapprochement Between People, Physicians for Human Rights, United States Department of State, World News Connection (WNC).