IDF Central District Commander Major-General Avi Mizrachi on Tuesday signed administrative orders preventing Yitzhar resident Elchanan Gruner from entering Yehuda and Shomron for four months — however permitting him to enter Betar Illit only, leaving him somewhere to live. The official reason is based on “intelligence information” that warns Gruner poses a threat to security in the Shechem area where Yitzhar is located.

The use of administrative detention against citizens is a ‘benefit’ enjoyed as a result of the dark archaic British Mandate period, a law that remains in effect permitting the defense minister to place someone in administrative custody or limit his movement without charging him with a crime and/or permitting the recipient to defend himself. If one seeks to challenge the intelligence information, the courts routinely states it cannot divulge the nature of the secret information, making any defense impossible.

The first government to use administrative detention against Jews and not just against terrorists was that of Menachem Begin, who placed Rabbi Meir Kahane HY”D and Baruch Ben Yosef in administrative detention when their activism interfered with his policy, leading to the giving away of Sinai.

It has since become handy tool, primarily for left-wing governments to use against right-wing activists who begin making headway in gaining support against government policy.

Such was the case during the administration of Ariel Sharon prior to the 2005 implementation of the so-called Disengagement Plan, which ousted Jews from their homes in Gaza and N. Shomron, leading to the destruction of those communities. The administrative laws have been used on many other occasions as well.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)