Court rejects top general’s bid to keep settler suspected of lurid attack in detention

By Jeremy Sharon

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9 August 2026, 2:15 pm

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Jeremy Sharon is The Times of Israel’s legal affairs and settlements reporter

Supporters of administrative detainee Tal Yinon Dardik, who is on a hunger strike in prison, demonstrate outside the Jerusalem District Court during a hearing on August 6, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

The Jerusalem District Court rejects an appeal by IDF Central Command head Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth regarding the house arrest of Tal Yinon Dardik, a suspect in the severe assault of a Palestinian man in March.

The IDF’s Military Appeals Court for Judea and Samaria ruled in July that an administrative home detention order issued by Bluth requiring Dardik to remain under full house arrest at his mother-in-law’s home was not practical and could not be implemented.

Defense Minister Israel Katz subsequently ordered officials not to renew the detention decree, calling for an alternative solution to be found that would allow Dardik to leave jail while ensuring he does not post a threat. Dardik has insisted that any house arrest take place at his home at an unauthorized farming outpost in Area B of the West Bank, while Bluth didn’t want to allow him to return there.

Bluth appealed the Military Appeals Court’s determination at the end of July, with Dardik remaining locked up. The court’s decision, following a hearing Thursday, means the ruling that the house arrest order is not implementable remains in place.

Administrative detainee Tal Yinon Dardik, who is on a hunger strike in prison, arrives at the Jerusalem District Court for a hearing on Central Command chief Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth’s appeal against a decision to release him from administrative detention, August 6, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

It is unclear where Dardik stands now. According to the Honenu legal aid organization, Dardik’s lawyer Moshe Polski is now working to have his client, who is on hunger strike, released from prison.

Bluth’s decision to appeal the lower court ruling drew anger from right-wing elements who wanted Dardik freed, leading Katz to announce on TV last week that he would be replacing the general, which sparked an outcry over what was seen as election-related meddling in IDF appointments. The defense minister quickly backtracked after IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen Eyal Zamir said he would not remove Bluth.

Dardik is suspected of carrying out a brutal attack in Khirbet Humsa, a Palestinian village in the West Bank, in March. According to the allegations, Dardik and other extremist settlers stripped a Palestinian victim, zip-tied his genitals, and paraded him around the village.

Dardik denies taking part in the incident.