Wednesday, January 18, 2023, 10:24 Several days before Rabbi Chaim Drukman, ztz”l, fell sick with COVID before his passing, he held a meeting with the parents of Avraham Yered, a 19-year-old Shomron resident who has been under administrative detention for two months. Former Defense Minister Benny Gantz signed the order. Rabbi Drukman’s grandson talked about his great concern for the administrative detainees and his work on their behalf:
“We sat with saba, ztz”l, and told him about the unfolding of events. He was shocked. ‘How can it be that a man is sitting in prison without having done anything?’ He repeated himself and asked again and again, ‘How can it be? How can an innocent man sit in prison?’ Saba asked us to invite Avraham’s parents because he wanted to hear the story from them because he could not believe that there was such a case. Avraham’s parents came to speak to him. He was very disturbed by the story. He said that he would speak to then Minister of Religious Services, Matan Kahana, and then Defense Minister [Benny] Gantz, and would try to do everything that he could to have Avraham released.
“The meeting was two days before he fell sick with COVID. Afterward, he was hospitalized, and then two weeks later he passed away. It was one of his last meetings.I believe that if saba were alive today, he would continue to work with all his energy on behalf of Avraham.”
Honenu director Shmuel (Zangi) Meidad, who was a student of Rabbi Drukman at Yeshivat Or Etzion and was present at the meeting, said, “The Rabbi welcomed us warmly. I told the Rabbi the story, and I explained the great injustice that was done to Avraham, how the courts were bypassed and he was given an administrative order without a trial or any charges made against him. The Rabbi identified very much with the situation and promised to discuss it with whoever could act on the matter.
“His voice was weak, but he was as sharp as always. The Rabbi assured us that he would get back to us after he spoke to Matan Kahana and to Benny Gantz, but unfortunately, we weren’t able to receive his answer. The Rabbi was with us for many years, throughout many and varied cases. He supported Honenu, encouraged our work, and recognized the importance of the organization. Rabbi Drukman will be sorely missed.”