Bennett calls for resumption of administrative detention against Jewish ‘terrorists’ in West Bank

Former prime minister and B’Yachad party chief Naftali Bennett denounces Jewish “terrorists” in the West Bank and says administrative detention should be reinstated for the most dangerous figures

Bennett tells 103FM Radio: “There are 550,000 Israelis in Judea and Samaria, the vast majority of whom are law-abiding. They serve in the military reserves and pay taxes — regular people whom I really love.”

But, he adds, “There is a minority that breaks the law, and the law should be enforced with a firm hand against anyone who breaks it.”

Asked if security forces should once again use the tool of administrative detention against top offenders, Bennett says: “Where it’s relevant, yes. Where it’s not relevant, no. I’m not afraid of it.”

Under administrative detention individuals can be held without charge for up to six months at a time. The detentions can be renewed indefinitely while allowing military prosecutors to keep suspects from being able to see the evidence against them. The practice is primarily deployed against Palestinian terror suspects, but has also been used against some extremist Jewish Israelis in the past.

Defense Minister Israel Katz halted administrative detention orders against Jewish suspects when he entered his post in 2024. Settler attacks on Palestinians have soared.

Asked if Jewish extremist attacks on Palestinians are terror, Bennett says they are.

“This minority, and I emphasize a minority, is certainly engaging in terrorism. When you attack civilians in order to terrorize them, this minority is committing terrorism. Absolutely. Burning a house with its occupants inside? That’s not Judaism, it’s not our values.”