One Israeli's trip to Jenin, then jail

Fahima's lawyer denies this, saying her client is not dangerous and accuses the Shin Bet of opting for administrative detention because it has no case. (Because of her detention, reporters no longer have access to Fahima.)

"The idea is to frighten, to deter, and to silence not only Tali but also others," says Ms. Ben-Natan. "They do not want people to make connections with Palestinians or to witness the occupation first hand. They want to maintain the separation that exists between Palestinians and Israelis."

Lin Dovrat, a friend of Fahima's says the journey that brought her to Jenin began with bus bombings in Tel Aviv. "She told me that the fact that she lived in Tel Aviv, where there were terrorist attacks, brought her to try to understand why these people were doing this."

In July 2003, Fahima read an interview with Zubeidi by the Israeli news service Y-net in which he said he would not respect the cease-fire then called by Palestinian leaders but that he was ready for a "genuine peace." Fahima told the newspaper Ha'ir she gleaned from the interview that Zubeidi was "not beastly or monstrous." She asked Y-Net's reporter for his phone number and began speaking to him over the phone. Eventually she took the initiative to meet with him in Jenin, despite an Army ban against the entry of Israelis there. Zubeidi showed her around the camp and introduced her to people.

Fahima told Ha'ir the encounters were "emotional, not romantic." She said they differed over suicide bombings, with Zubeidi saying they were the Palestinians' ammunition in the absence of tanks and planes. Fahima says she told him suicide bombings are cruel to the victims and to the bomber. "But the truth is that if the situation was reversed and I was forced to live in their conditions, I would be the first one to fight," she told Ha'ir.

In the view of state attorney Helman, Fahima "planned very extreme things. In the investigation there was not sufficient evidence that could be revealed publicly, but credible proof was gathered that shows her dangerousness in the future."

Fahima's detention has prompted criticism that it will pave the way for further detentions. "Administrative detention does not accord with human rights in a democracy," says Knesset member Zehava Galon of the left-wing Yahad party. "If the Shin Bet has proof against Fahima she must be brought to trial."

The hawkish group "Professors for Diplomatic and Economic Strength" said in a statement that it opposes "the undemocratic use of administrative detention as a replacement for trials whether it is in the case of a right-wing extremist man or a left-wing extremist woman."

Defending the detention, Avraham Fechter, a former military judge, says: "Almost all the democracies have reached the conclusion that there is a need for exceptional tools in exceptional cases. At times, the state has material that cannot be brought to court because exposing it to the accused and his lawyer could burn intelligence sources."

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