Police in Yitzhar
Police in YitzharFlash 90

Arutz Sheva spoke to Attorney Nati Rom with the Honeinu legal aid organization who is is representing Nerya Zarug, the Yitzhar resident who was arrested after being issued an administrative order distancing him from his home despite his clean record.

In September, Zarug received an executive order signed by IDF Central Commander Nadav Padan, banning him from northern Samaria, including his home for a period of three months. However, Zarug ignored the order and remained in the area.

"Yesterday night, a large force of police came to Yitzhar to arrest Nerya Zarug, a 21-year-old without any former criminal history, and was given a warning. We need to understand that since Judea and Samaria are a military regime, they use a tool that's not democratic, that the Central Commander decided not to let him stay for three months.

"Nerya has a wife, he has children, he has animals that he needs to take care of. He has his work over there. Suddenly, he was told not to be there, without any reason, without telling him why, without giving him the opportunity to [defend] himself in court.

"He cannot defend himself against this thing, he can do nothing, and he also wasn't told why. This is why he decided that he will not obey this thing. He had only three weeks to end this warning, and yesterday there was a big operation to arrest him. There was a lot of violence by the police who were upset because it took a lot of time, because he was attached to a device, and for many hours the police tried to take him out.

"There was a lot of violence by the police. I was there, unfortunately they didn't allow the lawyer to come see him for many, many hours, they didn't allow the wife and parents, they didn't allow the paramedics to go in when he was hurt; he was hurt on his whole body, and they didn't allow journalists to come in because they didn't want it reported on the news what happened there."

Is there any indication of why the authorities wanted him distanced from the area of his home; do they take administrative orders to distance people lightly, and did he not complicate matters for himself more by flouting the order and deciding not to obey, and what's his legal situation now?

"He knew what he was doing; he said he believed in the Bible and his moral right to stay there in Yitzhar, in Samaria, and he doesn't want to be uprooted and won't allow a paper to take him out of his life.

"We hope the court will release him because there is no reason to put him in jail, and regardless, in two weeks the warning is finished and we hope he will be released.

"One of the head police officers also said it was because he went to a new hilltop and started to inherit the land, and Israel because of international pressure doesn't want those people on those hilltops, so they're using a strong tool against this instead of using the parliament and the court."

Attorney Nati Rom
Attorney Nati RomCourtesy Nati Rom