Boaz Albert, a resident of the Shomron (Samaria) community of Yitzhar who was released from jail last week following four months of confinement, returned home Sunday to a welcome home party.
Albert was arrested for not complying with a draconian administrative order distancing him from his home for no stated reason. He was brutally tasered during an arrest by police last August, only to be arrested again in September.
Albert refused to be released from jail over the last four months in protest of the administrative order, even though the judge had agreed to release him - provided he goes to live in a community other than his own.
Speaking to Arutz Sheva on Sunday, Albert explained why he insisted on remaining in jail.
"I feel I did the right thing and coming home feels very good," said Albert, who said his entire family and the residents of Yitzhar supported him in his decision.
"I could have been released from prison three months ago, but it was conditional upon my signing an explicit commitment that I will not enter Judea and Samaria and in fact honor the administrative order. I refused to do that,” he added.
Albert stressed that the decision was a difficult one and had personal consequences, such as being distanced from his wife and children.
"The price was high," he admitted, "but I remained in prison because the purpose is very clear and the fundamental dispute here is about why we are here in Israel, including Judea and Samaria.”
“General Nitzan Alon (head of Central Command) who gave me such an order and evicted me from my home, his perspective is that I'm here in Yitzhar pursuant to his authority as a representative of the State. I do not agree with that. I am here as a representative of the Jewish people in the land of their forefathers,” declared Albert.
One of the visitors at Albert’s welcome home party was MK Moshe Feiglin (Likud), who told Arutz Sheva that he had visited Albert in jail.
“I think that the concept that Boaz Albert adhered to, which says that if something immoral happens you should not obey, is the only concept that will put a stop to the use of this non-democratic and immoral tool by the Israeli authorities against the settlers here,” said Feiglin.