Honenu Attorney Bleicher; Photo credit: Honenu
Tuesday, April 1, 2025, 8:43 Attorney Michael Sfard frequently represents left-wing organizations filing petitions against Jewish residents of Yehuda and Shomron and the development of Jewish communities in those regions. Recently, he filed a petition to serve a Jewish resident of a farm in the Jordan Valley with a stalking order. Attorney Sfard claims that the resident is violating the law by overseeing the development of a Bedouin encampment partially located on State land. Attorney Sfard also demanded that the resident be banned from the site. Honenu Attorney Chayim Bleicher is representing the resident.
Attorney Sfard claimed at a court hearing that settlers must be banned from overseeing illegal construction on State land on the grounds that, “There is an assertion being made here with very wide, dangerous ramifications: Every citizen can turn himself into a law enforcement agent.” The court rejected Attorney Sfard’s argument. In addition, the court reduced Sfard’s request for a six-month stalking order to only two months.
Attorney Bleicher underscored Attorney Sfard’s hypocrisy at the hearing: “The [Bedouin] encampment is built partially on State land, and there are injunctions against continuing its construction. It makes perfect sense for local residents to oversee whatever happens there. Attorney Sfard represents organizations that closely track all construction by settlers, no matter how small. So why is he objecting to the opposite situation?”
Attorney Bleicher commented on the case: “The court largely accepted our argument and served the resident with a minimal order because his surveillance is completely legal. We will continue to support pioneers in the Jordan Valley, Yehuda, and Shomron who are subject to harassment by anarchists and anti-settlement activists who try to change the situation on the ground by way of the courts.”