The families of the administrative detainees, whose friends were murdered in the terror attack near Eli and were detained under administrative arrest warrants issued by Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, are launching a fight to annul those warrants.
The families held a press conference with their attorneys, Adi Kedar and Nati Rom of the Honenu advocacy organization.
The detainees' families called on the members of the government to immediately withdraw the warrants and to stop persecuting the residents of Judea and Samaria.
Dani Schusterman, from Ra'anana, whose son is among the detainees, stated: "They arrested my son last Friday, they put him in a Shin Bet cellar and didn't let us see him for five days. The judge decided to release him, but the Shin Bet and police, without evidence, issued an order to hold on to him. I am pro-democracy, but the police bypass the judicial system to put our children in jail, and G-d forbid who knows what psychological effect this will have on them."
Yehudit Lobitsky, from Yad Binyamin, whose son is currently in administrative detention, was furious: "This is not democracy. This is not democracy in the craziest way there is. My son was sentenced to half a year in prison without trial. For four days, they denied him a meeting with a lawyer. Someone decided to torture us, and we don't even know what he's being accused of."
She alleges that "since the Americans want victims, our son is a victim of the system without a trial. Whoever cares about democracy and settlements must raise their voice and stop this. Any individual, especially those who are part of the coalition, must yell out that we've reached an insane extreme. They have to stop playing by the rules and cease to vote with the government.
We came from France, and I feel like I came to a third-world country. I expect all of the coalition and opposition members to shout 'enough'," she added.
Atty. Adi Kedar stated: "This warrant surprised us. Not because we're naive and don't know the system but because the circumstances are different. It can't be that about two years ago, when the conduct was similar, a different Defense Minister from a different government took action and canceled the warrant.
After a week-long struggle, during which they were held in suboptimal conditions by the Shin Bet, denied meetings, and treated like the worst of terrorists, the court understood that there was no evidence and ordered their release. But then comes the Defense Minister and signs an administrative arrest warrant," he added.
He explained: "Everyone will say that the Defense Minister has the freedom to do what he did. But the question arises - if there is no evidence that justifies the detention - how can you detain him? And then they begin to tell stories. The four were dangerous before the other incidents - why weren't they detained beforehand? This administrative arrest warrant is a punishment for the four and their families, and it's a gift to the left, the anarchists, and the Americans. This is a warrant that was issued through outside considerations, and we will fight and go all the way to the Supreme Court with our demand to repeal it."