"A cynical use of a draconian procedure": District Court discusses the cancellation of the administrative order against Tal Yinon Dardik

The Jerusalem District Court discussed this morning, Thursday, an appeal filed on behalf of the Central Command Chief, Major General Avi Bluth, against a decision stating that the administrative restriction order issued against Tal Yinon Dardik is not enforceable in its current format. Dardik, who has been on a hunger strike for 32 days, was brought to the hearing, represented by Adv. Moshe Polsky from the Honenu organization.

Knesset members Limor Son Har-Melech and Tally Gotliv also arrived at the hearing, alongside other supporters of Dardik. The two sharply criticized Bluth and claimed that the filing of the appeal contradicts the position of Defense Minister Israel Katz, who ordered not to renew the order in its existing format and to examine another solution.

At the beginning of the hearing, Adv. Polsky said that this is an order that cannot stand in its current format. "I have never encountered a situation where all parties know that this is an improper order, that it cannot be implemented, and that it involves harming a third party, and yet for a whole month they have been dragging us and Tal Yinon Dardik, who is on a hunger strike, through legal proceedings," he said.

According to him, the security establishment is making improper use of the administrative procedure and is asking to hold parts of the hearing behind closed doors based on classified material. "This only illustrates how cynically they are using the administrative order procedure here, which is a draconian procedure. Tal Yinon has been detained for a month without justified reason," he claimed.

The order against Dardik was issued against the backdrop of suspicions of his involvement in a violent raid in Khirbet Khumsa in the Jordan Valley, during which Palestinians were attacked. Security officials claimed they had evidence linking him to presence at the scene of the incident, but not enough evidence to determine his exact role in the actions or to file an indictment against him. Dardik denies participating in the attack and claims he was not present at the place where the actions were carried out.

Dardik was arrested after the security establishment claimed he violated the administrative order signed by Bluth, which required him to stay at his mother-in-law's house. The Military Court of Appeals determined that he cannot be required to stay specifically in that place and that an alternative residence must be examined. The decision did not cancel the administrative restrictions themselves, but determined that the order is not applicable in its current format.

One of the central points of contention concerns the financing of the alternative. The option examined was to rent an apartment for Dardik where he would stay under the restrictions, but the IDF opposes the state bearing the rent. The security establishment fears that such funding would create a legal and economic precedent, which Palestinians subject to administrative house arrest could also rely on in the future to demand that the state fund an alternative place of residence for them.

In recent weeks, the affair has become a focal point of confrontation between Katz and Bluth. The Defense Minister announced that the order should not be renewed in its current format and even met with Dardik while he was detained and on a hunger strike. On the other hand, the appeal to the District Court was filed on behalf of the Central Command and the State Attorney's Office. The IDF claimed that the appeal does not only deal with Dardik's personal case, but also with the question of the court's authority and the broad implications of obligating the state to fund an alternative residence.

MK Limor Son Har-Melech said outside the courtroom that "Major General Bluth's message is very serious." According to her, "There is confusion here regarding the question of who the enemy is and what the Central Command Chief should be dealing with. Tal Yinon Dardik is an expression of the struggle against a perception that presents the settlers in Judea and Samaria as the source of danger."

MK Tally Gotliv also attacked Bluth and claimed that the appeal constitutes a "rebellion against the Defense Minister." "The Defense Minister said not to renew the order and to find another solution, and yet an appeal was filed. Who is the Command Chief playing power games with here? With a Jew from Judea and Samaria?" she said.

However, the IDF previously clarified that the appeal was prepared and transferred for legal handling even before the Minister's statement, and that it also concerns fundamental questions that go beyond Dardik's case. The hearing is expected to decide whether the order will remain in effect in a different format, whether a new alternative residence will be found, and what the state's responsibility for its funding will be.