Prominent Soviet Jewish Activists Urge Israeli Defense Minister to Free Hunger-Striking Settler Tal-Yinon Dradik
Senior former Soviet Jewish refuseniks and Zionist activists have sent a letter to Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz demanding the immediate release of Tal-Yinon Dradik, a West Bank settler currently held under administrative detention and on hunger strike for two weeks. The letter, signed by notable figures including Yosef Bigon, Rabbi Yosef Mendelvich, Professor Vladimir Kislik, Victor Polmacht, and chess grandmaster Boris Golko and his wife Anna, expresses deep concern over Dradik's treatment and the broader implications for Jewish settlement in the West Bank.
Dradik was arrested for allegedly violating a home detention order imposed by Central Command Chief Avi Blot, which required him to remain at his mother-in-law's apartment, a demand deemed legally impossible and unjust by the signatories. The Jerusalem Magistrate Court ruled on July 8 that Dradik should be released to house arrest at his own home in the Karper Tarfun settlement, citing no justification for his incarceration and stating that any security risks could be managed through supervision by his wife and financial guarantees. However, due to a police appeal to the District Court, Dradik remains imprisoned and continues his hunger strike, now in its 16th day, suffering repeated fainting spells and deteriorating health.
The letter emphasizes that young Jewish families like Dradik's, living on land historically belonging to the Jewish people, are vital to preventing the establishment of a second Palestinian state in the heart of Israel. The signatories invoke promises made by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other ministers to prevent such a development and call on Katz to intervene promptly to release Dradik and prevent similar cases in the future.
The letter's authors are veterans of the Soviet Jewish struggle for aliyah rights, having endured decades of imprisonment and persecution. Dradik, a father of four and resident of a settlement in the Benjamin region, has become a symbol of resistance against administrative detention policies perceived as unjust by settler communities. His ongoing hunger strike highlights tensions between Israeli authorities and settlers over security measures and settlement policies in the West Bank.
