Over the past year, based on recommendations from the Shin Bet, the IDF Central District Commander and Homefront Commander have been serving youths identified with hilltop communities and outposts in Yehuda and Shomron, with orders banning them from making contact with each other. The number of youths specified in an order has usually been approximately 20.

Order1043 – One page of the first order:

On Friday, May 27 a youth was served with an order signed by the Central District Commander and Commander of the Homefront Command, Major-General Yoel Strik, banning him from making contact with 87 specific individuals and also placing him under house arrest at night. The ban, the grounds for which are, “ensuring the security of the State, the peace of the public, and maintaining public order,” was issued by recommendation of the Jewish Department of the Shin Bet.

As with all administrative orders no evidence was presented and the youth was not brought to trial. The youth was simultaneously served with a second order, signed by the Commander of the Central Command Major-General Roni Numa, banning him from entering Yehuda and Shomron.

Honenu: “A long time ago the security system started on a slippery slope, the end of which is not known. Under the pretext of “maintaining the security of the State” families are thrown out of their homes, individuals are held in remand without a trial, others are banned from entering their place of work, and orders are given banning youths from making contact with each other. Most of the public is unaware of what has been occurring and is certain that ‘It won’t happen to me’. However, this is a matter of destructive norms becoming a regular occurrence. We hope that the new Defense Minister will study the situation during his ‘days of grace’, and possibly succeed in stopping the slide down this slippery slope.”

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)