District court accepted appeal in Yitzhar minor’s case

Thursday, July 7, 2016, 21:39 On the morning of Thursday, July 7, a deliberation took place at the Central District Court in Lod on the appeal of the decision by the Petah Tikva Magistrate Court concerning the Yitzhar minor banned by administrative order from entering Yehuda and Shomron, including his own home. The appeal was filed by Honenu Attorney Chai Haber, who is representing the minor.
District Court Judge Michal Barak-Nevo accepted the appeal and canceled the decision by Magistrate Court Judge Erez Nurieli, who had ordered the Yitzhar minor to give an address outside of Yehuda and Shomron at which he would stay under house arrest every night for 45 days. Judge Barak-Nevo also canceled the order requiring the minor to sign-in at the nearest police station every night.
Judge Barak-Nevo did not cancel the administrative order and specified that the minor may change the location of his house arrest every two days. An additional deliberation on the case is expected to take place in approximately two weeks.
The Yitzhar minor was detained before dawn on Friday, June 24, in a raid by large numbers of security forces on his home, where he had remained despite an order signed by the GOC of the Home Front Command requiring him to stay at an isolated farm in the south of Israel. The minor’s parents had not given their consent to the arrangement and are not acquainted with the owner of the farm, who, as it became apparent during a June 24 court deliberation, refused to receive the minor. Because he had remained at home, an indictment was served to the minor for violating a legal order.
On Wednesday, July 6, the minor visited the Knesset with his father and Shmuel (Zangi) Meidad, the director of Honenu. They met with Knesset members and spoke about the order, which includes house arrest at night, and its consequences: a minor banned from his own home, forced to wander between his relatives’ and friends’ homes every day because no-one is willing to host him for more than a night because of the house arrest conditions. As with all administrative orders, the minor was not brought to trial and no evidence has been presented.
Meeting were held with Knesset members from several parties, both in the coalition and the opposition, among them Nachman Shai, Miki Zohar, Shuli Moalem, David Amsalem, Moti Yogev, Rabbi Yehuda Glick and Deputy Defense Minister Rabbi Eli Ben-Dahan.
Some of the Knesset members gave assurances that they would assist the family in having the order canceled. Knesset Member Moti Yogev said that he would advance a discussion on the matter with the Committee for the Rights of the Child, of which he is a member.
The minor and his father described how policemen have been coming almost every night to the host families’ homes to verify his compliance with the house arrest order. The police arrived during the small hours of the night, on some nights several times, making an excessive amount of noise, needlessly disturbing the hosts and their neighbors. The disruptiveness of the house checks has created a situation in which no-one is willing to host the minor for more than one night.