Court Clears Way for Deportations on Eve of Baker’s Visit to Israel

Israel’s highest court has cleared the way for the deportation of four Palestinian activists from the Gaza Strip, which could be carried out Tuesday, just as U.S. Secretary of State James Baker arrives here for a new round of diplomatic talks with Israeli leaders.

The United States and other nations publicly condemned the intended expulsions when they were announced in March, calling them violations of the Fourth Geneva Convention.

But a three-judge panel of the High Court of Justice on Sunday turned down the appeals of the four deportees, who are accused of hostile activities.

The judges said they saw no reason to intervene in the decision of the military authorities to expel the four men as a threat to peace and order.

The court rejected the appellants’ argument that they were being punished because they were among detainees released in a controversial prisoner exchange in 1985 with members of Ahmed Jabril’s terrorist group, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command.

The judges said they were satisfied that the expulsion orders were based on recent or current acts not connected with the deportees’ prior record.

The deportation orders were signed March 23 by Maj. Gen. Mattan Vilnai, commander of the southern district.

The IDF claimed that the activities of the four men had created a climate that encouraged Arab violence against Jews, such as the recent spate of random stabbings, in which several Israelis have been killed.

Defense attorney Leah Tsemel, representing the four, won a 48-hour stay of deportation pending an appeal to a five-judge bench. But it is regarded as a formality which will not change the outcome.

“This is not surprising. The court always upholds the military decision,” Tsemel said.

The four deportees could very well be flown or trucked into Lebanon on Tuesday, when Baker is scheduled to arrive for his fourth round of talks since March.