Settler suspected of attacks on Palestinians released from house arrest, barred from West Bank

An Israeli settler suspected of nationalist-motivated offenses against Palestinians has been released from house arrest, though he is now barred from entering the West Bank. The decision by IDF Central Command Chief Maj.-Gen. Avi Bluth marks a shift in the restrictions placed on Tal Yinon Dardik, who is also on a hunger strike in prison.

Dardik is suspected of involvement in attacks against Palestinians, including an incident in March. The IDF Central Command had appealed a previous court decision that upheld restrictions on Dardik, arguing he posed a security risk.

The Jerusalem District Court reviewed the appeal on Sunday. While Judge Avraham Dan Rubin acknowledged that Dardik constitutes a danger justifying house arrest, he ruled that the specific location of the arrest – at his mother-in-law’s home in the West Bank settlement of Adei Ad – was not permissible without her consent. The court thus left intact the finding that Dardik poses a security risk but modified the terms of his confinement.

This ruling means Dardik will be released from house arrest but must adhere to the new restriction barring him from the West Bank, a measure intended to mitigate the security risk he is believed to pose.

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The starting point in the proceeding before me is that the respondent poses a danger which justifies full house arrest.