Jerusalem Magistrate Court Judge Karen Miller ordered the police to remove a 20-year old Jewish man from Ofra who had been arrested on suspicion of intending to oppose the destruction of nine houses in Ofra. He will be banned for ten days. The judge ruled that if the evacuation of the houses is completed within ten days, the ban on his return would be lifted. However, the judge rejected the police request to require the man to submit a financial deposit to ensure good behavior, stating that in fact there is no reasonable suspicion of interference with a police officer and that the case dealt with future actions. She accepted that there was material evidence of a plan for active resistance of the evacuation, justifying the ban. The man was represented by Attorney Nati Rom of the Honenu legal aid organization. Attorney Rom said: "The court ruled that the section [regarding] an offense of obstructing an officer in the future is not found in the law, and accepted our argument that it should not worsen the conditions of release. Unfortunately, the court agreed to forbid the young man to enter Ofra until after the evacuation, in what constitutes a violation of freedom of expression. We will consider appealing the decision to the district court." The Honenu organization stated that a number of minors who have been detained by police were forced to sign documents at the police station in which they pledged to stay out of Ofra for 15 days.
