Defense Minister Naftali Bennett has ordered the IDF to issue an administrative restraining order barring “left-wing anarchist activists” from Area C of the West Bank. This is the first time that such a global order has been issued. Typically, it is a tool that the Defense Ministry has used to clamp down on far-right Jewish extremists suspected of price tag attacks against Palestinians and Israeli security forces. “The circus is over. We will act harshly against domestic enemies that harm IDF soldiers and the country’s security,” Bennett said. He has asked the IDF Central Command, the general security establishment and the Israeli police force to work on the matter. At issue is the group Anarchists Against the Wall, which works to support Palestinian protests against the security barrier and against the IDF in B’ilin, Na’alin, Kadum and Nabi Saleh. Bennett has asked the IDF and the Shin Bet to draft in particular an administrative order against the most well-known member of the group, Israeli activist Jonathan Pollak, who is already under arrest on suspicion of harming IDF soldiers. Right-wing Israeli activists and settler leaders have long claimed that these protests are fueled by left-wing activists, without whom they would not occur. Bennett’s office charged that during these protests, harm was rendered both to IDF soldiers and the security barrier. “No one has the right to harm Israeli soldiers and the security of the country in the name of freedom of expression and the right to protest. The time has come to stop the provocation of these anarchists and act harshly against these domestic enemies,” Bennett said. The right-wing group Im Tirzu welcomed “Bennett’s important decision,” explaining that “extreme left-wing activists from Israel and abroad” are in Judea and Samaria daily to harass IDF soldiers and to document events so they create a campaign of delegitimization against the IDF and the State of Israel.
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