Only two weeks after right-wing activist Elisha Yared was arrested by SJ detectives on the grounds that he had violated the administrative order issued against him, the Judea and Samaria District Attorney's Office decided to close the case. However, for three weeks they refrained from informing Yared of the closure of the case, and the Central Command even used the detention as proof that the administrative order should be extended. Yared accuses the arrest of being part of political persecution and his lawyer attacks him, saying that "this is an investigation aimed at tarnishing my client's name." Police say they sent the update by mail — and it only came last week, even though the case was closed almost a month ago.
In early October 2023, Central Command Maj. Gen. Yehuda Fuchs issued an administrative restraining order against Yared for six months, keeping him away from his home in Binyamin. Yared appealed the order through Honenu to the military court, which cut the validity of the order in half, but then Fuchs appealed the court's decision in a precedent-setting manner and the district court, citing, among other things, a violation of the order, which was not even committed, reversed the decision and left the order in effect until April 2024. Last week, the Supreme Court rejected Yared's request to appeal the restraining order.
Oren Ben Hakon
In the shadow of the administrative order imposed on him, Yared was arrested about a month ago in the Jordan Valley by detectives from the Judea and Samaria Police Department. The detectives claimed that Yared violated the administrative restriction order issued against him by Central Command General Yehuda Fuchs, who removed him from his home in Binyamin. Detectives declined to specify why they were detaining Yared and informed him that he had been detained for 24 hours. Yared was released after a day in the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court. Last weekend, Yared received a letter from the Judea and Samaria District Attorney's Office stating that the case against him had already been closed on 20 December 12 – just ten days after his arrest.
The saga did not end with the false arrest, because at a hearing on an appeal filed by Central Command Chief Yehuda Fuchs against the military court's decision to shorten Yared's administrative order by two months, which took place on December 24 – four days after the case was closed, the Central Command argued that the shortening of the order should be revoked on the grounds that Yared had violated the restrictions imposed on him. The "proof" brought by the Central Command of the violation of the order was none other than the false arrest in question, the criminal case opened as a result of which had already been closed four days earlier.
Kedar of Honenu, who had not yet been informed of the closure of the case, was prevented from refuting the false accusation, and the judge decided to accept the general's appeal, noting, among other things, in her reasons the violation that in fact was not even committed.
The Israel Police said in response to Israel Hayom's request that "the investigation file was transferred for review to the District Prosecution Unit, which examined all the circumstances and decided to order its closure, due to doubts about the suspect's concrete awareness of the nature of the prohibition imposed on him at a level sufficient for a conviction in a criminal trial. An official letter about the decision to close the case was sent to the suspect." The police claim that Yared did indeed violate the administrative order, but was not aware of it, and therefore the case against him was closed.
Elisha Yared, for his part, accuses the security forces of engaging in political persecution against him. "The closure of the case proves once again that the arrest was part of the political and personal persecution conducted by General Fuchs against activists in the settlements and right-wing elements who dare to criticize his policies."
Attorney Nati Rom of Honenu, who represents Yared, says, "This is an illegal and puzzling use of criminal proceedings for administrative purposes. The SJ Bureau of Investigation approaches the court by misleading the judge, and asks for an arrest warrant for a puzzling offense in which the suspect did not commit a prohibited act, when the judge is not even aware that the real story behind the ex parte detention request is preparation for the delivery of an administrative order, and that no real criminal investigation is carried out, and usually the suspect is not brought before a judge at all. Ultimately, this is an investigation whose purpose is to thicken the case and tarnish my client's name before issuing an administrative order."
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