A Yitzhar resident whose son received an administrative order last week wrote a letter to Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman (Yisrael Beytenu), asking him to cancel the order and allow the son to remain at home.
The youth, who is still a minor, is still home for the time being, following an appeal by the legal defense organization Honenu to the Homefront Command. He is now permitted to stay with his parents until he receives a court hearing.
"Several days ago, our 15-year-old son received two administrative orders from the heads of the IDF Central Command and Homefront Command. One banned him from entering Judea and Samaria for half a year, and the second ordered him to remain under overnight house arrest at his grandparents' for three months," the father wrote to Liberman. "This was the first we had heard about anything. In addition, he was forbidden from contacting about 30 of his friends, including his 12-year-old neighbor.
"First of all, we are outraged over the use of an extrajudicial administrative order against our son and the way he is being treated as a terrorist, an enemy and a 'ticking bomb.' This must be the case, because it's only with these sort of people that it's reasonable to use such an order. This in itself is nothing new. This order is one more in a list of hundreds of such orders that have been given out left and right to anyone whose thoughts, statements and actions don't fit the political opinions of various officials who want to use force to control the people. They silence and trample the rights of those who oppose them."
The boy's father adds that this order contains a unique point that is neither justified nor moral. "While other restraining orders against youths always gave them the option of remaining in their parents' home, now the various extremist officials don't like that our home is in Samaria and the community of Yitzhar, so they are not giving him the option of going to his parents' house for an extended period. It should be pointed out that all of this is without any charges, due process or possibility of defending him."
He also questioned whether an official order from the state can force someone to remain in the homes of specific people for a period of time, without asking the subject. The father noted that his son's school, most of his friends and his work are all in Judea and Samaria.
"What do they think the youth will do now? Should he sleep on the street and go around unemployed for half a year?" the father added. "As the new Ministry of Defense, the general public and particularly the residents of Judea and Samaria, of which you are one, expect that you will fix this serious flaw in the security and moral conduct of the previous Defense Minister. The issue of administrative orders against many youths from Judea and Samaria is one of them. From an ethical standpoint it may even be the most serious. We hope that you will uphold the numerous expectations and that you will take a new ethical and moral direction, and that you will restore the clear distinction between love -- even for those with different political views -- and enmity."