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Zarog family; Photo credit: Avraham Shapira
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Yitzhar resident faces administrative order
On Wednesday, September 4, Neriya Zarog (21), a married Yitzhar resident and father of two children wrote a letter to the GOC of the Central Command, Major-General Nadav Padan, requesting that he refrain from signing on a severe administrative order for which Zarog had been granted a hearing the previous week. The order is expected to distance Zarog from almost all the area of Binyamin and Shomron, limiting him to the community of Kochav Ya'akov for three months. Additionally the order prohibits him from making contact with 16 of his friends.
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Demonstration; Photo credit: Avraham Shapira
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Demonstration in support of Yitzhar resident
On the same day, dozens of women and children from Yitzhar demonstrated opposite the Shomron Brigade Base, demanding that Maj.-Gen. Paran refrain from signing on the administrative order against Zarog. The demonstrators carried signs reading "We are all Zarog", "Fight the enemy", and "Cancel the administrative order". One of Zarog's neighbors who participated in the demonstration said, "We call on the Major General to not sign the administrative order. It is insane to bring a man a piece of paper which throws him out of his house and home for months. The purpose of the order is to harm the development of our hilltop and of the Land of Israel. Any other statement is just an excuse. This must not be allowed to happen."
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Neriya Zarog; Photo credit: Avraham Shapira
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Excerpts from the letter
In his letter Zarog wrote: "The order is designed to expel me and my family from my home in the community of Yitzhar. This order is designed to tear me from my place of residence, my place of employment, the company of my family, my children's framework, our flock that we tend at Givat Kumi Ori, and from part of the Land of Israel. There is neither an explanation, nor evidence, nor legal justification for the administrative order. This draconian order is part of an unacceptable practice, an archaic holdover from the time when the British persecuted Jews striving for the sake of the People and Land of Israel."
Zarog added that, "The genuine reason for your wanting to issue this order against me is my endeavors to build up the hilltops surrounding Yitzhar. During the past few weeks I have suffered much harassment by the security forces while grazing my flock. Unfortunately it seems that your method is to ignore the Arabs taking control of land, which endangers my life, the lives of my friends, and the lives of your soldiers. Not only that, it has become clear that the policy of the army is to harass the Jewish residents instead of dealing with either the illegal Arab construction or the daily rock-throwing on the roads"
The problematic nature of administrative orders was also addressed: "No suitable legal option was given to me to defend myself against such an order, as befits every citizen in our state. Therefore my only legal recourse is to turn to you as one Jew to another, and to request that you not impose on me the restrictions of the draconian administrative order." Zarog added, "You are not obligated to follow orders from the Jewish Department of the GSS, which is known for its iniquities against Jews."
In conclusion Zarog repeated his request to prevent the problematic order: "These orders ceased to serve as 'security measures' a long time ago, and you are using them only as the easy way for you to 'prevent friction,' which is to prevent me and my friends from preserving Jewish communities in the Land of Israel. Even according to your reasoning there is no justification for using an administrative order against me, and therefore I request of you again: Do not issue me the order as you wanted to do at the hearing."
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Support from Honenu
Honenu called on elected leaders and heads of communities in Yehuda and Shomron to act towards preventing Maj.-Gen. Padan from signing on the order: "Over the past few years the IDF has turned into the executive branch of the Jewish Department of the GSS and is serving youths in Yehuda and Shomron with severe orders in horrific quantities. These orders, which bypass the law and the need for evidence, drastically harm the daily routines of entire families and young children without any justification. A system which functions like a bull in a china shop will cause angry outbursts among the victims which it tramples and it will achieve the opposite of its stated goals. Auditors and the public must examine if this is the actual intent. We call on elected leaders and heads of communities in Yehuda and Shomron to act towards ending this dictatorial conduct."
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Zarog family; Photo credit: Avraham Shapira
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Yitzhar women's letter to Major-General Padan
More than 150 women, all of them Yitzhar residents and friends of Miriam Zarog, wrote a letter to Major General Nadav Paran, demanding that he refrain from signing on a severe administrative order against her husband, Neriya. The women have explained that the order harms not only Neriya, but also Miriam and their very young children, and all without a trial or proof of any crime committed.
"We were very sorry to hear that you are considering issuing an administrative distancing order against Neriya Zarog, a Yitzhar resident married to Miriam and the father of Ro'eh Yisrael and Ya'elet Chen," wrote the women.
The letter continues: "The effect of the order is great harm not only to Neriya, but also to our dear friend Miriam Zarog and her little children. Miriam and Neriya are pioneers, they love the Land of Israel and chose to make their home in Givat Kumi Ori and strengthen the Jewish presence in the area of Yitzhar."
The letter concluded: "We call on you not to harm the development of Jewish communities on Yitzhar's hilltops. Do not issue this heavy-handed order against Neriya, which will completely disrupt his family's life. It is not too late to rectify the injustice!"
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