7 Hilltop Youth Refuse Release, Claim Police Persecution

In a dramatic development, seven boys arrested on Monday morning on suspicion of violating administrative orders banishing them from Yehudah and Shomron refused release from detention under the restrictive conditions set by the police in the Magistrates Court.

The boys, some of whom are minors, claimed that “the Shin Bet and the police are abusing and persecuting us.”

The boys were taken into police custody during a raid on an apartment in Yerushalayim used by right-wing activists and hilltop youth.

Attorney Itamar Ben-Gvir, who is representing some of the youths, said the police “are abusing hilltop youth.”

“They’re running after them, abusing them. In this kind of situation, all responsibility for ‘price tag’ attacks falls squarely on the shoulders of the police,” he said. “When you chase youths down and push them up against a wall, it should not come as a surprise that some of them can’t ignore the insult and decide to respond.”

“I call on the police, the Shin Bet, and the attorney’s office to stop chasing these youths and to calm the atmosphere.”

Two additional administrative orders were handed out on Sunday night, forbidding the youths from contacting anyone. The orders are signed by the Home Front Command’s General Commanding Officer.