Prominent Land of Israel activist Ayala Ben-Gvir was arrested Monday for protesting outside the home of Major-General Gadi Shamni, head of the Central Command. Ayala was forced to part from her young son, who had come with her to the protest, and she and her eight-month-old daughter were taken to the Neve Tirtza women's prison.
Ben-Gvir argues that police arrested her without a valid reason and violated her right to non-violent protest. The Ramle Magistrates Court has scheduled an urgent hearing in the matter for Monday night.
Ben-Gvir and another activist were arrested while demonstrating against the forcible eviction of Jews from the Peace House in Hevron last Thursday. Protesters held a demonstration opposite the homes of Shamni and of other senior IDF officials involved in the eviction operation.
Itamar Ben-Gvir, Ayala's husband and a well-known figure in the nationalist community in Judea and Samaria, said, “Not only can they surprise us in our homes but we can also come to them and protest against injustice, harassment and evil.”
Ayala spoke with reporters from prison and said the protest opposite Shamni's home had been peaceful until police arrived and detained her and another woman. Shamni's personal guard pushed the protesters as officers arrived, she alleged.
While Ben-Gvir and others protested near Shamni's home, another group was protesting near the home of the head of the Shin Bet Agency division charged with investigating Jewish groups. One of the protesters had recently received an administrative order prohibiting him from living in his family home in Judea and Samaria for several weeks. Police arrived and demanded the protesters' identity cards, but did not make any arrests.
Yet another protest took place opposite the Tel Aviv home of Brigadier General Noam Tibon, the head of IDF forces in Judea and Samaria. Activist Noam Federman, his wife and their children were present at the demonstration and handed out fliers detailing incidents in which Jewish homes were destroyed on Tibon's orders. The Federman family home near Hevron was recently destroyed in the middle of the night after officials ruled the structure illegal.