Eliya Ben-David; Photo credit: Ya’ir ֹUriel
Monday, February 10, 2020, 20:14 The Central District Court in Lod has cleared for publication the identity of the detainee being held under a one-month administrative order signed by Defense Minister Naftali Bennett. The detainee is Eliya Ben-David, a 19-year-old resident of Nof HaGalil and member of a garin torani in the city. He has not been put on trial and no charges have been made against him.
Eliya’s father, Rabbi Golan Ben-David, is the principal of a Talmud Torah in Nof HaGalil and his family is well-known in the National-Religious community. The administrative detention of Ben-David raised a loud public outcry and several right-wing politicians are endeavoring to convince Minister Bennett to remove his signature from the order and release Ben-David.
On Sunday, February 2, Ben-David was detained by the GSS and prohibited from meeting with an attorney. On Monday, February 10, following an investigation which did not yield any findings, Central District Court Judge Ido Dorian Gamliel ordered his unconditional release. In the decision the Central District Court censured the police and the GSS. “This matter must not be considered insignificant and disregarded,” wrote Judge Gamliel on the detention of the youth and ordered the transfer of the deliberation minutes to the Jerusalem District Attorney, and to the commanders of the Central Unit of Yehuda and Shomron Police and the GSS for examination.
Several minutes later, Defense Minister Bennett signed the order, which states that the administrative detention is necessary for the sake of national security. Almost immediately after Ben-David’s release, GSS forces arrived at the courthouse and took him to administration detention.
Honenu Attorney Adi Keidar, who is representing the youth, was astounded by the conduct of the GSS and that of Defense Minister Bennett: “The law enforcement system has reached a new low. Today the Central District Court ordered, while censuring the police and the GSS, the release of a suspect, and informed him that he was being released. During the deliberation the police and the GSS, without informing the court, came and clandestinely took him, and gave him an administrative order. The order is signed by no more and no less that the newly appointed Defense Minister, Naftali Bennett, who has joined the community of people who have won across-the-board condemnation from the Israeli public – the law enforcement system, the Attorney General’s office, the police and the GSS. Unfortunately the way things were done was inappropriate. We will appeal to the court for cancellation of the unjust order.”
Monday, February 10, 2020, 23:08 Demonstration in protest of administrative detention
This evening Eliya Ben-David was brought to the wing designated for religious prisoners in the Ayalon Prison. Later, approximately 20 demonstrators protested opposite the home of Defense Minister Naftali Bennett in Ra’anana following his signing on a administrative order issued to Ben-David.
During the protest Minister Bennett’s guards and police forces detained three demonstrators. Honenu Attorney Moshe Poleski is assisting the detainees