Israel backs down over deportation threat

Israeli officials, faced with an international outcry and a definitive ruling by the attorney general, have admitted that they cannot legally deport relatives of suicide bombers unless they are directly linked to attacks.

Meanwhile, a Palestinian official said Israeli foreign minister Shimon Peres had told the Palestinians that Israeli troops could withdraw from two West Bank cities - Bethlehem and Hebron - in the coming days, but Israeli officials denied the claim.

On Friday, Israeli officials had said they were considering deportation to the Gaza Strip for 21 people arrested in West Bank raids who were relatives of suspects in attacks last week that killed 12 Israeli residents.

The officials stressed that the deportations would only be carried out if there were legal grounds to do so, but the threat nevertheless generated international condemnation and cries of collective punishment from the Palestinians.

London-based Amnesty International and Palestinian and Israeli human rights groups said the proposal was a violation of international law, and United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said ‘‘self-defence cannot justify measures that amount to collective punishments’’.

Even Israel’s closet ally, the United States, tersely warned the government against deporting anyone based solely on their family relations.

Yesterday, attorney general Elyakim Rubinstein’s office issued a statement outlining his position on the matter, saying deportation could be considered only for people ‘‘directly involved’’ in attacks.

Israel’s government is generally expected to act in accordance with the attorney general’s legal opinion, and officials made clear that they would.

The foreign ministry said deportation was only legal for ‘‘individual family members who were involved or active, in one manner or another, in the commission of the suicide terrorism, including aiding and abetting the attack’’.

And Ranaan Gissin, a spokesman for prime minister Ariel Sharon, said there was no legal possibility for deportation if there was no proof of clear involvement in a terror act.

‘‘They knew from the beginning that it was problematic,’’ he said. ‘‘If you can’t do the move in a legal manner, then you can’t do it.’’

However, he said, investigations of the 21 family members arrested Friday were continuing to see if any fitted Rubinstein’s criteria for deportation.

The relatives had petitioned the Israeli Supreme Court to block any deportation. However, they withdrew the petition yesterday after the court noted the Israeli government had not ordered anyone deported, and said it could not rule on their petition unless such an order was given.

The proposal for more blanket and punitive deportations had generated some support in Israel, including from the former head of the army’s southern command, Maj Gen Yom-Tov Samia.

‘‘The expulsions of terrorists and their families is one of the most severe punishments we can give and it will deter the terrorists significantly,’’ he told the Yedioth Ahronoth daily newspaper.

Deportation is sensitive for Palestinians, whose close-knit family relations dictate much of their everyday lives. Deportation to Gaza from West Bank villages where their extended families live would remove much of their social, emotional and economic support systems.

The debate over deportation came as Peres met Palestinian Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat on Saturday and discussed conditions for easing restrictions on Palestinians and for Israel to end its month-long occupation of West Bank towns and cities, both sides said.

Israeli forces occupied seven of the eight major West Bank towns and cities after back-to-back suicide bombings in Jerusalem on June 18-20 killed 26 Israelis.

A Palestinian official said Peres had told Erekat the army would leave Bethlehem and Hebron within days. Army Radio issued a similar report. But officials in Peres’ office said they knew nothing of the proposal and Gissin indicated a withdrawal would not happen soon.

Peres did not mention a timeframe or cities to be vacated in an interview with Israel Radio, yesterday, repeating the government’s general line, that the army had ‘‘no interest in staying in those places where the Palestinians can prove that they can take control’’.

The Palestinians have demanded Israel get out, arguing they cannot assume security control while Israeli forces are in place, enforcing curfews and hunting for militants.

Gissin said that so far, the Palestinians had not shown they were ready to take over.