Defense Minister Naftali Bennett, chairman of the rightwing party Yamina, on Monday joined the forces of darkness which have been harassing and abusing generations of rightwing Jews in the liberated territories and elsewhere, by signing a warrant of administrative detention against a 19-year-old Jewish man.
The order, utilizing a pre-state instrument of control and repression left over by the British government of Palestine, was signed by the religious Jewish DM only minutes after the District Court had ordered the release of the youth from custody without any restrictive conditions.
The youth, a resident of the north of Israel, was arrested by the clandestine security forces last Sunday and was issued an extraordinary arrest warrant without the right to an attorney. On Monday, after the investigation in his case had not panned out, District Court Judge Ido Dorian-Gamliel ordered his unconditional release from detention.
But minutes following his release, Shin Bet agents arrived and took the young man out of the district court building to administrative detention.
It was precisely over their thuggish practices that the district court severely rebuked the regular and clandestine police.
“We can’t pretend nothing happened,” the judge wrote about the Jewish youth’s arrest, and ordered that the court hearing’s protocol be transferred for review to the Jerusalem District Prosecutor and to the chiefs of Special Crimes and the Shin Bet.
The administrative detention order signed today by Defense Minister Bennett states that the arrest without a shred of evidence nor proper court proceeding is required for reasons of state security. The young man will be detained for one month using this anti-democratic, fascistic device.
Attorney Adi Kedar of the Honenu legal aid society representing the youth was astonished at the conduct of the Shin Bet and the supposedly rightwing, pro-settlements Defense Minister.
“The law enforcement apparatus has hit bottom,” Kedar said, accusing the clandestine agents and the minister who supports them of outright kidnapping. He promised to appeal the despicable move immediately.
Meanwhile, in this humble reporter’s opinion: anyone but Bennett.
Attorney Itamar Ben Gvir said in response: “Just a few weeks ago, Bennett announced his intention to issue administrative orders against leftwing activists who harm IDF soldiers, but instead, Bennett chooses to continue winking at Blue&White and issuing an administrative detention warrant against a blameless young Jew.”