The Conviction Rate in IDF Military Court Tribunals: Is it Too High? - by Karen Bekker

What does a commonly cited statistic about Israeli military courts really tell us?

Karen Bekker..
CAMERA Middle East Issues..
21 June '17..


One anti-Israel talking point that has been cropping up recently is the claim that nearly 100 percent of trials of Palestinians in Israeli military courts in the West Bank end in convictions. This statistic has been repeated in Newsweek and in the Washington Post.

The main source for this claim is a 2011 report from Haaretz, which cites “data in the military courts' annual report, which has been obtained by Haaretz.” There is no link to the report, nor any title given to identify it, and it does not appear to be publicly available.

Haaretz tells us that

According to the report, 9,542 cases were wrapped up in 2010, of which 2,016 involved hostile terror activity, 763 disorderly conduct and the rest Palestinians staying illegally in Israel, traffic offenses and criminal activity.

The report states that 25 cases ended in full acquittal, meaning that the conviction rate is 99.74 percent.

The implication of those who repeat the statistic in the context of anti-Israel articles is that the high conviction rate is evidence that the Israeli military courts are lacking in due process, and that the Palestinian defendants who are tried in them are not being treated fairly. A closer look at the facts, however, reveals that this is not so.

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