The Knesset Secretariat on Monday authorized the request of MKs Betzalel Smotrich and Yehuda Glick to hold an urgent hearing on the Yitzhar minor’s case at the Knesset Committee for the Rights of the Child. The hearing was set for today, Tuesday, at 9:00 AM, and will bring to the public’s attention the abusive use of administrative orders against Jewish minors in Judea and Samaria. An estimated 50 Jews are under restrictive administrative orders, many of them minors (See: Police Harass Grandparents of the Minor from Yitzhar).
The Yitzhar minor, 15, was banned by administrative order from entering Judea and Samaria, including his own parents’ home, and was placed under house arrest at night. As is the case with all administrative orders, no evidence has been presented and the minor has not been brought to trial. Since July 6, just under a month, the minor has been wandering from house to house due to the difficulty of finding him a permanent host family: prospective families have been discouraged by the disruptive house checks carried out by police in the middle the night, and sometimes several times a night, complete with hollering and banging, disturbing entire neighborhoods — so that by now no one is willing to host the minor for more than one night.
The minor has been detained several times on suspicion of violating the restriction order, including after reporting to a police station and informing them that he did not have a place to sleep. He has also been accused of being late with informing the police of his new address for the night. His unique situation, a minor pulled out of his own home, without judicial due process and without seeking expert opinion from a social worker and the Youth Probation Service, has already moved the Knesset Committee for the Rights of the Child to strongly oppose the decree against the Yitzhar minor. The committee on Tuesday will also hear the critical statements made by several judges before whom the minor has been brought, about police abusive behavior in this case.
The minor and his family, legal aid society Honenu staff members, and the families of other youths who are similarly restricted by administrative orders are expected to participate in the committee hearing.
The vast majority of the administrative restriction orders have been repeatedly extended by the Central and Home Front Commands, who rely on the claims of the Jewish Department of the clandestine police Shabak, predicting that the individuals under administrative restriction orders are liable to disturb the public peace. (See also: Military Court of Appeals Critical of Administrative Restrictions of Jews without Hearings)