The ankle monitor; Photo courtesy of the photographer
Monday, January 5, 2026, 19:29 For the first time, the GOC of the Central Command, Major-General Avi Bluth, signed on an administrative order to fit a Shomron resident, a minor, with an ankle monitor. The order sets a precedent for use of technological means to track citizens under the authority of a major-general in charge of a regional command. Officers from the Yehuda and Shomron Police and GSS forces took the minor from his home to the police station, where he was fitted with an electronic ankle monitor on his leg. The minor was also served with an order prohibiting him from leaving his home community. The monitor will transmit his location to the police 24 hours a day. Honenu will appeal the order on behalf of the minor.
Honenu Attorneys Moshe Poleski and Nati Rom, who are representing the minor, sharply criticized the decision.
Attorney Poleski: “This is a draconian and undemocratic step reminiscent of dark regimes that track their citizens. Justice Emeritus Aharon Barak made a good point when he stated that the State of Israel had ceased to be a democracy. However, it it not because of judicial reform, but rather because of the serious violation of civil rights – tracking individuals and violating their privacy.”
Attorney Rom: “Major-General Bluth renewed a heavy-handed practice that is contrary to the principle of human rights in Israel. Tracking and monitoring an individual who has not been tried in a court of law is an insane policy reminiscent of dark regimes. I hope that the Supreme Court will cancel the order, and it would be best to do it promptly.”
The minor’s family issued a statement: “We expected the new head of the GSS to recognize that a Jew is a friend, not a foe. We expect him to fight only the enemy, and to dismantle the department that persecutes Jews.”