Gallant extends administrative detention of settler activist Ariel Danino by three months

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has extended the administrative detention of prominent settler activist Ariel Danino by three months the day before the original order was due to expire, the right-wing legal aid group Honenu says.

Danino was put into administrative detention on October 29 and, prior to Gallant’s decision, was due to be released on February 28.

While it was unclear what prompted Gallant and the Shin Bet to place him in detention in the first place, the original order cited “a reasonable foundation to assume that state security/public security requires” him to be held in detention.

His wife Avia Danino tells Honenu that her husband “is a hero and a pioneer who experienced firsthand the rapacity of the system that does everything to silence those who warn and expose its shamelessness, instead of directing its resources to eradicating terrorism.”

Administrative detention is primarily used for Palestinian terror suspects — about 1,000 of whom are currently held in custody under the practice — but the orders have also been used with a handful of Jewish-Israeli terror suspects in recent years.

The tool is typically used when authorities have intelligence tying a suspect to a crime but do not have enough evidence for charges to stand up in a court of law.

Its use against settler extremists has become more common recently, as many of them maintain their right to silence and refuse to cooperate with investigations.

Jeremy Sharon contributed to this report.