MK Aryeh Eldad (NU-NRP) on Saturday night decried the IDF's decision to impose a military closure on the area outside the yishuv Hashmonaim, in advance of a planned attempt Land of Israel activists to establish five new yishuvim at various strategic points in Judea and Samaria, including a hilltop between Hashmonaim and Kiryat Sefer. According to the order, anyone caught inside the closed military zone can be arrested without due process.

“Dozens of protests have been held around this area by the left,” Eldad said, refer to the weekly anti-security fence every Friday by Arabs and Israeli leftists, “and no permit was ever denied those groups. It appears the IDF is allowing politics to affect its decisions by closing off the area for a protest by the right,” he said. In addition, Eldad said he saw the IDF's ban on the press entering the area as disturbing, because “it indicates that the army plans to use serious and illegal violence against protesters. Otherwise, what do they have to hide?”