D.  Arrest and Custody:        

A Palestinian can be held in custody for eight days before being brought before a judge, up to 18 days for certain offenses, including deliberately causing death.36   An Israeli can be held in custody for only 48 hours before being brought before a judge, even in cases of security offenses.37  

A Palestinian can be held without charges, by order of a jurist-judge, for an initial period of 30 days, which can then be extended for a maximum period of six months by the legal advisor for the occupied Territories, via the Military Court of Appeals.38 An Israeli can be held without indictment for an initial period of 15 days, which can be extended for only another 15 days.39

There are also significant differences in the conditions of confinement in which Palestinians and Israelis are held.  Palestinian detainees are usually kept in solitary confinement during this initial period of detention, and are sometimes subjected to torture during interrogation.40

Moreover, there are differences in the length of time during which Palestinians and Israelis may be held in custody pending completion of their criminal proceedings, but those distinctions do not apply where the crime is “serious” or involves use of a weapon, and thus are not relevant to this article.

E.  Meeting with an Attorney:

While the military code states that a Palestinian detainee must be permitted to meet with an attorney as soon as possible, the meeting can be delayed for 15 days from the date of detention, based either on reasons of security or the good of the interrogation. The time can be extended for an additional 15 days by a police officer with the rank of chief superintendent or higher, for still another 30 days by a jurist-judge, and by the president of a military court for yet an additional 30 days, for reasons of regional security. Thus, a Palestinian detainee can by prevented from seeing a lawyer for a total of 90 days.41

The meeting between an Israeli detainee and his attorney can be delayed for a few hours if a police officer with the rank of superintendent or higher thinks that interrupting the interrogation would be damaging. If state security or human life, or preventing the commission of a crime is involved, the meeting may be delayed for another 48 hours. If the head of interrogations think it warranted, he may prevent the meeting for seven days from the date of detention and an officer ranked commander or higher may delay it for an additional eight days. Thus, an Israeli detainee may be kept from meeting with an attorney for a total of 15 days.42

F.  Sentencing:

The sentencing structure of the two legal systems is different, with the maximum allowable civilian sentences43 considerably less severe than those allowable in the military tribunals, a major reason for the significant differential in sentencing.  For example, a Palestinian convicted of manslaughter by a military tribunal is subject to a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, while an Israeli convicted of manslaughter in a civilian court faces only a maximum of 20 years. 

The difference in sentencing structure is reinforced by regulations in the two penal systems regarding the early release of prisoners. Under the Israeli penal code, prisoners may be released after serving two-thirds of their sentence. Thus, in practice, a sentence of life imprisonment usually equals a 20-25 year imprisonment sentence. The military orders under which Palestinians are judged do not allow for any early release for any reason.44

G.  C ompensation:45

Israeli civilians who suffer injury to person or property as a result of politically motivated violence are entitled to receive compensation from the State, but Palestinians (whether or not citizens of Israel) are generally not. 46    That is because the State of Israel gives recognition only to victims of terrorist attacks that are seen to be hostile to Israel, and the victims of these attacks are almost exclusively Israeli.