Yinon Cohen
Yinon CohenCourtesy

Police have served a summons for a hearing before the imposition of an administrative restriction order to Yinon Cohen, a husband, father, and farmer near the town of Michmas in the Binyamin region. The order comes from General Yehuda Fox, who is appointed over the IDF’s Central Command.

The order is dated two months ago, but was served only yesterday. As part of the restrictions imposed on him, Cohen is forbidden to enter Judea and Samaria, including his house and farm, for four months, of which two have already passed. He is likewise forbidden to contact several dozen of his friends.

In addition to the order, he has been dismissed from reserve service in the IDF, and his personal firearm confiscated at the direction of the Jewish Department in the ISA (Shin Bet), and against the advice of military officials in the area. The confiscation of his firearm has left the farm effectively defenseless.

Cohen claims the order was politically motivated: “ This draconian order was served to me yesterday, and is another proof that these orders are exclusively political. They are intended to be used against ‘ ticking time bombs’. For two months, I have not been considered dangerous, but after the declaration by US President Joe Biden yesterday, someone remembered that they needed to sacrifice a few more settlers to Biden to appease the hostile government that is conducting an extreme left-wing campaign.”

“The only purpose of these orders, like the confiscation of firearms and the demolition of homesteads, is to establish a Palestinian state in Judea and Samaria and remove Jewish presence that prevents it. That is the uppermost goal of extreme left-wing organizations that have conducted an evil campaign claiming ‘settler violence’ during the war, and have managed to turn to their destructive ends the government of the United States of America.”

A military source claimed that the orders are unconnected to the sanctions imposed by President Biden against four settlers, and added that the order had indeed been signed months ago, but that the responsibility for serving it lay with the police.