Right-wing activist Meir Ettinger, who has been held under administrative detention for almost six months, began a hunger strike this week. The strike is in protest of the harsh conditions he claims he is being held under.
Ettinger is the grandson of Rabbi Meir Kahane and has been held in administrative detention since August 3rd under a command signed by Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon.
The administrative detention law requires security officials to conduct thorough investigations and to report on their progress in court every three months. With that, the law is open-ended, and allows officials to keep individuals in prison as long as required.
According to government statistics, Palestinian terrorists who have been arrested under the law are usually detained for between six months and a year before being either released or charged.
Evyatar Slonim and Mordechai Meir were arrested together with Ettinger in August. Meir was released three weeks ago.
Ettinger was kept in an open wing during the first few months of his arrest. However, he was recently transferred to solitary confinement in a protected wing. He is only allowed to communicate with family members during set times, which are monitored.
The current order to keep Ettinger in administrative detention will be ending in just over two weeks time. It is yet unknown whether a new order will be issued.
Ettinger has been number one on the Jewish wanted list of the Israel Security Agency. He is allegedly the culprit of creating the ‘rebellion document’ that was discussed during the Duma arson case.
