Shin Bet issues 10 restraining orders to far-right activists
Orders exclude the extremists from West Bank outposts from which Shin Bet claims the activists carried out attacks; attorney Ben-Gvir states: 'there are no indictments and no due process by which they can receive answers and defend themselves'.
Restraining orders were filed on Saturday night and Sunday morning against ten far-right activists, banning them from the West Bank for ten months.
In an unusual statement published Sunday, the Shin Bet said that "in light of several terrorist attacks committed recently, in which there was even loss of life, restraining orders were issued against ten activists at the recommendation of the Shin Bet ."
In the notification the Shin Bet claimed the purpose of the orders was to keep the right-wing activists away from illegal outposts "such as Habaladim, near the West Bank settlement of Kochav HaShachar, from which they set out to carry out attacks."
The statement also said that "in the spirit of the directive of the state's security cabinet, as part of a policy of zero tolerance towards terrorism, in order to smash the terrorist infrastructure which carried out these attacks and to prevent additional activity that could endanger security, these orders contain various restrictions, including demarcation of where they can reside, a nighttime curfew, and exclusion from the West Bank."
Since the murders of two members of the Dawabsheh family in the Palestinian village of Duma, administrative orders have become the most important tool in the fight against right-wing activists.
The orders distributed Saturday night were issued to far-right extremists who live in outposts associated with the "hilltop youth" of the West Bank. Among the recipients of the orders were two minors from the Od Yosef Chai Yeshiva in Yitzhar, three youths living near Shilo, and the father of a child from the outpost of Geulat Tziyon.
Itamar Ben-Gvir, the attorney of two of the recipients, said: "Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon is behaving like a bull in a china shop. His actions send the message to young people that there is no democracy, and encourages them to break the law, as there are no indictments and no due process by which they can receive answers and defend themselves."
The association Honenu, which represents several right-wing activists, also protested the issuance of the orders. "The system is facing unprecedented pressure and is utilizing illegal means against the settlers engaged in the settlement of the country," the organization stated. "We are witnessing a dramatic rise in the severity and amount of administrative orders being issued, which severely violate the rights of recipients of such orders."
After the issuance of administrative detention orders to right-wing activists Meir Ettinger (grandson of Rabbi Meir Kahane), Evyatar Slonim, and Mordechai Meir, security forces Saturday began to issue the administrative restraining orders to ten other activists. The use of administrative restraining orders has been made before, but in the West Bank no one can recall such an extensive use of them in such a short span of time.
