Safed Chief Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu released a video today in which he calls to raise public pressure against the issuance of administrative detention orders and distancing Jews.
This call follows the administrative order given two months ago to a resident of Yitzhar in Samaria, who is distanced from his home for three months for no apparent reason.
Rabbi Eliyahu also says in the video that he was told that Arabs are not given administrative orders due to public pressure on the matter, and therefore the rabbi calls for similar pressure to be applied against such orders to Jews.
Neria Zarug, married and father of two children, is a resident of Yitzhar who is currently distanced from his home and the area of Samaria and Binyamin, and is prohibited from contacting sixteen of his friends by administrative order. Zarug is not the only one and right now there are a number of Jews who are distanced for unpublished reasons, with no court order but with the signature of IDF Central Commander Nadav Padan. Zarug decided not to obey the dictates of the order and continues to stay in the village of Yitzhar in Samaria.
In the video, Rabbi Eliyahu addresses the issue and says, “At the time, we approached ministers and public figures to apply administrative detention to terrorist families. They said, ‘No, it’s not so legal, it won’t work, it won’t pass the Supreme Court.’ We asked, “How do you apply administrative detention to Jews?” – “Oh, because there’s no public pressure.”
Rabbi Eliyahu later addresses the general public about “the fact that we are sitting quietly – it allows administrative detention of young men for nothing, no guilt on their part, because if they were guilty of something they’d file a complaint against them. We must protest firmly against administrative detention on Jews; is it sheer racism, done only to Jews and not to Arabs? Terrorist’s families, combatants, not even their homes are destroyed – those who support terrorists.”
In conclusion, the rabbi calls for a stir and public pressure against orders given to the Jews only: “Something here is distorted and should be protested against, and not in a thin, weak voice, but with loud noise” the rabbi ends his remarks.
Rabbi Eliyahu joins Rabbi Dov Lior and Rabbi Yitzhak Ginsburg who expressed support for Zarug on the administrative order he received and even Minister Smotrich who addressed the Central Commander before he signed the order in order to prevent its issuance.
Zarug refused to accept the order, and posted that he would openly violate it, even posting a picture of himself building a sukkah and buying the four species for the Sukkah holiday that recently took place. Zarug enjoys support from public figures and various supporters for his struggle against the administrative orders, and now Rabbi Eliyahu has also been added.
The Honeinu legal aid organization that assists Zarug joined Rabbi Eliyahu in his call and said, “The order given to Neria Zarug and many like him is a legal and moral disgrace. The GSS and IDF utilize British Mandatory tools to harass Jews who love their land who are guilty of nothing. With no judge and no judgment. We join Rabbi Eliyahu in his call to the public and hope that the decision makers put an end to this ongoing scandal.”
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From Arutz Sheva, here.
