Defense Minister Naftali Bennett on Motzei Shabbos ordered the Shin Bet and Israel Police to issue restraining orders against extreme left-wing activists who participate in anti-Zionist provocations in Judea and Samaria.

The activists, most of whom are members of the Anarchists Against the Wall organization, come every week to the Arab villages of Bil’in, Nabi Saleh, and Nil’in near Ramallah and Kafr Qaddum near Shechem and provoke IDF soldiers together with Palestinian Arabs. They usually coordinate their actions with Palestinian Authority activists and other extreme left-wing organizations.

Bennett also ordered that security forces should act forcefully against the protests and quickly disperse them. This is the first time that the Defense Ministry has issued instructions to thwart the weekly provocations.

“The circus is over. We will act harshly against domestic enemies that harm IDF soldiers and the country’s security,” Bennett said. “No one has the right to harm Israeli soldiers and the security of the country in the name of freedom of expression and the right to protest.”

One of the restraining orders that Bennett ordered is against extreme left-wing anti-Zionist activist Jonathan Pollak, the founder of Anarchists Against the Wall its and most well-known member.

Pollak is already in detention after being arrested last week in the Haaretz newspaper officer in Tel Aviv, where he works as a graphic designer, for failing to appear in court after being summoned for charges of attacking IDF soldiers. Pollack refused to appear in court since he does not recognize the authority of the state of Israel due to its “illegitimate occupation of the Palestinian people.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)