An Israeli court has extended the detention of Palestinian journalist and political activist Abed Abou Shhadeh who was arrested this week. Abou Shhadeh was detained after Israeli security forces raided his home in Jaffa overnight on Tuesday. On Wednesday, Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court ruled that he will remain in custody until Sunday, November 8.
Abou Shhadeh, a Palestinian citizen of Israel, hosts the al-Midan podcast for the Arab48 website and appeared as an analyst on Al Jazeera during coverage of the recent Israeli election. Police had requested an eight-day extension to his detention on suspicion of “contact with a foreign agent”. The legal rights group Adalah, which is part of his defence team, said it would appeal.
Speaking on Al Jazeera, Adalah founder Hassan Jabareen said Abou Shhadeh had been charged with receiving money from foreign agents in order to support Arab-Israeli voters. Jabareen dismissed the charges as fabricated. Arab48 reported that police initially refused to tell his family where he was being held.
His lawyer later discovered he was detained at a Shin Bet intelligence facility in Petah Tikva. No party emerged as the winner in Israel’s election last week, with Netanyahu’s bloc and the opposition, led by Gadi Eisenkot, now needing to form a coalition with smaller parties to be able to govern. Arab-led parties made record gains this year, making their collective alliance a candidate for coalition partner.
Abou Shhadeh’s lawyers say his interrogation focused solely on the interview he conducted with the former Knesset member. At the hearing, the defence argued that Bishara, a former head of the Arab-Israei party Balad, is not a “foreign agent” and that interviewing him cannot give rise to suspicion of a criminal offence. According to the Israeli daily Israel Hayom, lawyers also told the court that Abou Shhadeh had worked as a journalist for about six years and conducted the interview as part of the work.
They said it was “not a secret meeting” and that investigators already held Abou Shhadeh phone and computer, so there was no real risk of him obstructing the investigation. Dozens of Palestinian and Jewish activists protested outside the court on Wednesday to demand his release. Rights advocates have described the arrest as part of a campaign of intimidation against Palestinian citizens of Israel following the election.
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