Honenu Attorney Avichai Hajbi; Photo credit: Honenu
Wednesday, January 15, 2025, 19:35 Two days ago, a Yehuda and Shomron resident was detained and held by the GSS after he revealed to his friends that he was an agitator in the service of the Jewish Department of the GSS. The resident’s father contacted several police stations in search of his son. However, the police informed the family that their son was safe only after they filed a missing person report at the police station. Hours later, the father was allowed to speak to his son, who told him that he was being detained by the GSS and that he would return home the following day. As of now, he has not been released.
Honenu Attorney Avichai Hajbi wrote a letter to GSS Director Ronen Bar on behalf of the resident’s family, stating in part, “Your subordinates threatened the resident, blackmailed him, and ordered him to incite Jewish Yehuda and Shomron residents to commit crimes. I ask you to order your subordinates to allow him to make contact with his parents and to immediately release him. As long as he has not contacted his parents, the undersigned will have no choice other than to petition the High Court of Justice to order you and your subordinates to to release him.”
Attorney Hajbi issued a statement: “In a democratic state, in 2025, it is unacceptable for people to disappear as if they were in Soviet Russia. The manner in which my client was recruited raises difficult questions with regard to the operations of the GSS, which will be examined in court. The GSS chose a young man as an agitator to act among his friends in an attempt to defame Yehuda and Shomron residents at a time that they contend with Arab terror on a daily basis. This is a disgrace.”
On Monday evening, the agitator arrived in Yad Binyamin and revealed details of his activities to his friends in their shared apartment. He told them that six months ago, he was involved in a serious criminal act, and that is when the Jewish Department of the GSS entered the picture. They expunged his indictment in exchange for his cooperation and assistance with incriminating right-wing activists. The GSS agents blackmailed him and forced him to go to Shomron communities even though he wanted to stay at his yeshiva in southern Israel and not be involved in right-wing activities. He said that he had been having a crisis and that the GSS agents had repeatedly pressured him and taken advantage of his situation. Among other actions, the GSS sent the agitator to right-wing activist Ariel Danino after he was released from administrative detention. The agitator tried to ingratiate himself with Danino, but he rejected any connection to him.
Late Monday night, immediately after the agitator revealed his actions to his friends, a large number of police officers raided the apartment. The officers illegally detained him and the three friends who were with him, and confiscated their cell phones. The agitator’s friends were released ten hours later in the morning at the police station. They were not interrogated, and they were not informed of the reason for their detention.