Who Polices Israeli Civilians in the West Bank?
The Israel Police’s Samaria and Judea District opened 12,865 cases in 2020, on the State Comptroller’s 2022 audit of the district.
12,865 cases were opened in 2020 in the Israel Police’s Samaria and Judea District, the police district for the area Israeli bodies call Judea and Samaria. The figure is the State Comptroller’s count, from its 2022 follow-up audit of the district. Since October 2019, the IDF and the Military Police have held authority to investigate gunfire by Border Police officers operating under IDF command that injured or killed Palestinians. Alongside the police, the Civil Administration runs civilian affairs, with 25 staff officers representing the government ministries.
| Figure | What it counts | Period |
|---|---|---|
| 12,865 | Cases opened in the Samaria and Judea District for disturbing public order, security violations and damage to property | 2020 |
| 48,371 | Traffic tickets issued in the district, 36,074 of them to Palestinians, about 75% | 2020 |
| October 2019 | Start of IDF and Military Police authority to investigate gunfire by Border Police officers under IDF command that injured or killed Palestinians | From October 2019 |
| 25 | Staff officers representing the government ministries in the Civil Administration, subordinate to the military and the civilian echelon | Audit of September 2018 to June 2019 |
| 314 | Civil Administration employees: 202 Israeli civil servants and 112 Palestinian employees | 2019 |
| 6,605 | Illegal-construction cases identified in the Israeli sector, on the Supervision Unit’s own count; 1,807 demolished, 27% of 6,605 | 1997 to 2013 |
| None | Body charged with criminally investigating planning and building offences in the area | At the audit’s close, December 2015 |
Source: State Comptroller of Israel, in three audits: the Samaria and Judea District follow-up audit (May 2022), the audit of staff officers in the Civil Administration (Annual Report 70C) and the audit of the Supervision and Enforcement Unit (Annual Report 66b, 2016). The 6,605 and 1,807 are the Supervision Unit’s own counts, relayed by the Comptroller.
The Samaria and Judea District opened 12,865 cases in 2020
The Israel Police’s Samaria and Judea District opened 12,865 cases in 2020 for offenses of disturbing public order, security violations and damage to property. That is the State Comptroller’s own count. It covers those three offence categories in one year. It is not a total of the district’s police activity.
The audit is a follow-up audit. It re-examines deficiencies raised in a previous audit of the police district covering Area C. The State Comptroller examined the Israel Police, COGAT, the Civil Administration and the IDF’s Central Command and Military Police from February to August 2021, with supplementary checks to November 2021.
- Established: September 1994.
- Area: from Mount Hebron in the south to the Megiddo region in the north, and from the Judea and Samaria boundary line in the west to the Jordan Valley in the east.
- Presented: 15 February 2022, to the Prime Minister and the Knesset State Audit Committee.
The audit publishes no complaint, investigation, indictment or conviction count for offences by Israeli civilians against Palestinians. The record on complaints against settler violence is a separate one.
Border Police shooting investigations moved to the IDF in October 2019
From October 2019, authority to examine and investigate gunfire by Border Police officers operating under IDF command that injured or killed Palestinians passed to the IDF and the Military Police. The transfer followed a January 2018 decision of the Prime Minister. It covers that gunfire only, by Border Police officers under IDF command.
The State Comptroller found the transfer in place and listed it among the deficiencies rectified since the previous audit. Each status below is the Comptroller’s own finding on the Israel Police district, tested against the earlier audit’s list.
| Deficiency from the previous audit | Status at the follow-up audit | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Authority over Border Police gunfire under IDF command | Rectified, moved to the IDF and Military Police | From October 2019 |
| District Control Center staffing, training and shielding | Rectified, with an alternative center at national headquarters | November 2020 |
| Bulletproof vehicles suited to the district’s missions | Not rectified, unchanged in kind and number | June 2021 |
| Ceramic vests | Not rectified, most past their plate expiry date | As at the audit |
| Palestinian vehicle and driver licensing data, from the Civil Administration to the police | Not rectified | As at the audit |
| Investigation of falsified real-estate transactions | Not rectified | As at the audit |
Source: State Comptroller of Israel, Samaria and Judea District of the Israel Police, Follow-up Audit, May 2022.
The district issued 48,371 traffic tickets in 2020
The Samaria and Judea District issued 48,371 traffic tickets in 2020. The State Comptroller counts 36,074 of them as issued to Palestinians, which the report writes as about 75%. The 36,074 counts tickets, not drivers. Every figure in this section is the Comptroller’s own, from its 2022 audit of the Israel Police district.
| Figure | What it counts | Period |
|---|---|---|
| 48,371 | Traffic tickets issued in the district | 2020 |
| 36,074 | Of those tickets, issued to Palestinians, about 75% of 48,371 | 2020 |
| NIS 270 million | The audit’s estimate of traffic fines issued to Palestinian drivers and left uncollected | 2014 to 2021 |
| 2.67 seconds | Average response time on the district’s 100 emergency hotlines | As at the audit |
Until December 2021, the Civil Administration did not bar drivers who had not paid their fines from entering Israel. The audit writes the NIS 270 million as an estimate, not as a collected sum.
25 staff officers serve two echelons in the Civil Administration
The State Comptroller found 25 staff officers in the Civil Administration serving as the government ministries’ professional representatives. They are subordinate to both the military and the civilian echelon. Their role is to represent the ministries; it is not a police role. The staffing counts are the Comptroller’s own, from its audit in Annual Report 70C, conducted September 2018 to June 2019.
The Comptroller’s 2016 audit sets out the Civil Administration’s legal footing, quoting its founding instruments:
- 1981: an order of the IDF commander established the Civil Administration to run civilian affairs.
- February 2004: its organisation order sets its purpose as implementing government policy in Judea and Samaria and advancing it in civilian fields. It also makes it the executive arm for infrastructure, planning and building in Area C, “including the handling of the Israeli localities”.
- Command: professionally subordinate to COGAT, and headed by an IDF brigadier general.
No body criminally investigates planning offences in the area
The State Comptroller found in its 2016 audit that no body is charged with criminally investigating planning and building offences in the area. The Defence Minister decided in December 2013 to establish a unit to conduct those investigations. At the audit’s close, with completion checks running to December 2015, it had not been established.
The Civil Administration’s Supervision Unit handles illegal construction. Its case counts are the unit’s own, from its 2013 summary report as relayed by the Comptroller. They count cases the unit identified, so they measure its own detection rather than how much was built.
| Figure | What it counts | Period |
|---|---|---|
| 57 | Employees in the Supervision Unit | 2014 |
| About NIS 17.5 million | The unit’s budget | 2014 |
| 6,605 | Illegal-construction cases the unit identified in the Israeli sector | 1997 to 2013 |
| 1,807 | Of those 6,605 cases, demolished, 27% | 1997 to 2013 |
Source: State Comptroller of Israel, Judea and Samaria Area: Activity of the Supervision and Enforcement Unit and Aspects of Land Registration, 2016. The 27% is cumulative across 1997 to 2013, so a case identified late in the window had less time to be demolished than one identified early. This is also the record on planning and building in Area C.
Every figure here comes from three Comptroller audits
- The 12,865 criminal cases and the 48,371 traffic tickets are different counts. They are never added together or divided into one another.
- “About 75%” is the State Comptroller’s rounding of 36,074 of 48,371, and it stays about 75%.
- The 2022 counts are the Comptroller’s own count of the Israel Police district. They are valid as of the audit’s presentation, and the Comptroller published the report with sections kept confidential. The English text is the published abstract.
- The 6,605 and 1,807 are the Supervision Unit’s own counts of its own enforcement, relayed by the Comptroller.
- 202 plus 112 equals the published 314.
Questions readers ask
Which police district covers the West Bank?
The State Comptroller reports that the Israel Police’s Samaria and Judea District runs from Mount Hebron in the south to the Megiddo region in the north. It reaches east to the Jordan Valley.
Who audits the Israel Police district in the West Bank?
The State Comptroller published a follow-up audit of the Samaria and Judea District in its May 2022 report. It was presented to the Prime Minister and the Knesset State Audit Committee on 15 February 2022.
Who investigates when Border Police officers fire on Palestinians?
The State Comptroller found that, from October 2019, the IDF and the Military Police hold authority to examine and investigate gunfire by Border Police officers operating under IDF command that injured or killed Palestinians.
What decision moved that authority to the IDF?
The State Comptroller stated that the transfer followed a January 2018 decision of the Prime Minister.
How many traffic tickets went to Palestinian drivers?
The State Comptroller counted 36,074 of the district’s 48,371 traffic tickets in 2020 as issued to Palestinians, about 75%. The figure counts tickets, not drivers.
How much in traffic fines went uncollected?
The State Comptroller estimated NIS 270 million in traffic fines issued to Palestinian drivers and left uncollected from 2014 to 2021.
How fast does the district answer emergency calls?
The State Comptroller measured a 2.67 second average response time on the district’s 100 emergency hotlines, against a 4.14 second national average.
Does the audit count offences by settlers against Palestinians?
No. The State Comptroller published no complaint, investigation, indictment or conviction count for offences by Israeli civilians against Palestinians in the 2022 audit.
Who runs the Civil Administration?
The State Comptroller recorded that the Civil Administration is headed by an IDF brigadier general and is professionally subordinate to COGAT.
How many people work in the Civil Administration?
The State Comptroller counted 314 Civil Administration employees in 2019: 202 Israeli civil servants and 112 Palestinian employees.
Do the Civil Administration’s staff officers have police powers?
The State Comptroller describes the 25 staff officers as the government ministries’ professional representatives, subordinate to the military and the civilian echelon. That is a representative role, not a police one.
Who investigates illegal building by Israelis in the West Bank?
The State Comptroller found in its 2016 audit that no body was charged with criminally investigating planning and building offences in the area. A unit the Defence Minister decided on in December 2013 had not been established.
How many illegal-construction cases did the Supervision Unit find in the Israeli sector?
The Supervision Unit counted 6,605 cases in the Israeli sector from 1997 to 2013, on its own count relayed by the State Comptroller. It demolished 1,807 of them, 27%.
How large is the Supervision Unit?
The State Comptroller recorded 57 employees in the unit, on a 2014 budget of about NIS 17.5 million.
Sources
- State Comptroller of Israel, 2016. Judea and Samaria Area: Activity of the Supervision and Enforcement Unit and Aspects of Land Registration. Annual Report 66b. https://library.mevaker.gov.il/sites/DigitalLibrary/Documents/2016-66b-201-IOSH.pdf. Official or primary record.
- State Comptroller of Israel, 2021. Staff Officers in the Civil Administration in the Judea and Samaria Region. Annual Report 70C, English abstract, pp. 55 to 59. https://library.mevaker.gov.il/sites/DigitalLibrary/Documents/2020/70c/EN/2020-70c-107-Ayosh-TAKTZIR-EN.pdf. Official or primary record.
- State Comptroller of Israel, 2022. Samaria and Judea District of the Israel Police, Follow-up Audit. State Comptroller Report, May 2022, Chapter Four (Defense System), p. 321. https://library.mevaker.gov.il/sites/DigitalLibrary/Documents/2022/2022.5/EN/2022.5-402-Police-Taktzir-EN.pdf. Official or primary record.
