Legal Group Condemns IDF Order Detaining West Bank Settler Tal Dradik Despite Court Rulings

The legal organization Honenu sharply criticized IDF Spokesperson Brigadier General Avi Blot for issuing a new administrative detention order against Tal Yinon Dradik, a West Bank settler, despite Defense Minister Israel Katz's directive to avoid such orders and seek alternative solutions. Dradik has been held in detention and on hunger strike for 36 days. Yesterday, Jerusalem Magistrate Amir Shaked instructed the Judea and Samaria police district prosecution to respond to Honenu's urgent petition for Dradik's release, following a district court ruling that invalidated Blot's previous order against him. However, the police prosecution has yet to submit their response, and Dradik remains detained.

Honenu demands that Defense Minister Katz intervene, accusing Brigadier General Blot of violating the minister's policy by continuing to issue administrative detention orders against settlers without charges, due process, or legal standards. Honenu's attorney Moshe Polsky called Dradik a patriotic settler and condemned the ongoing detention as illegal and an abuse of power, emphasizing that two court decisions have already ruled the detention order unauthorized. The Central Command commander has also ordered Dradik's removal from the West Bank.

The new order issued by Brigadier General Blot requires Dradik to stay away from his farm and residence in the West Bank, except for the city of Modi'in Illit, and mandates daily reporting to the Modi'in Illit police station. Honenu stresses that every minute Dradik remains detained is unlawful and demands his immediate release.