Honenu Attorney Nati Rom; Photo credit: Honenu
Wednesday, April 10, 2024, 12:15 In early April, a married Yitzhar resident and father of two received an administrative restraining order signed by the GOC of the Central Command, Major-General Yehuda Fuchs. The order bans him from Yehuda and Shomron for four months. The resident is accused of being involved with violent incidents against Arabs. Honenu Attorney Nati Rom, who is representing the resident, wrote a letter to Maj.-Gen. Fuchs demanding the cancelation of the order.
In his letter, Attorney Rom cited the resident’s innocence: “My client is a very busy man who has absolutely no connection to violent actions against the Palestinian population as claimed in the notification delivered to him. My client has not been involved with any violent incidents. On the contrary, my client is a moderating and responsible figure in an environment rife with serious security incidents.”
Attorney Rom underscored the extensive damage that the order causes to the resident, who also works in Yitzhar: “The decision to separate a married man, a father, from his home, with all the far-reaching consequences that the order entails for him and for his family, must be examined meticulously. If the general ruling regarding restraining orders is that ‘near certainty’ of danger to the security of the area must be proven, then when an order like this is issued to a married father whose ban from the area is liable to wreak havoc on the entire family, then the matter requires additional scrutiny. As the war [in Gaza] rages, Israeli citizens and in particular Yehuda and Shomron residents are concerned for what is going to happen, [the order] takes on greater significance, and a heavy-handed order such as this can be justified only under extraordinary circumstances.”
Honenu Attorney Nati Rom commented on the case: “The GSS continues to be held captive by an erroneous conception and cannot distinguish between friend and foe. It would be best for the GSS to invest their energy in the all-out war on terror and not on the persecution of normative citizens who do not have a criminal record.”