The State Prosecution on Tuesday presented crime lord Issam Jarushi, 30, from Ramle, with an indictment that includes 15 different violations of a court-issued public restraining order.
What makes this indictment seminal is that it is legally based and relies on legislation passed within just the last year, stated to protect the public from criminal gangs. Once before – in July – an order was issued based on the powers granted by this law.
The law, dated from December 2024, was passed with the designated goal of “protecting the public from serious criminal activities carried out by criminal organizations or those acting on their behalf, acts that have the potential to pose as a danger to human life,” reads the text of the law.
It grants authorities – particularly district courts – the liberty to issue restraining orders based on estimated danger posed to the public, but before a concrete and specifically dangerous action has been taken.
The basis for this danger must be presented by the Israel Police to the court, complete with sufficient and broad evidence to back up the position, as well as to explain why a broad restraining order is the only viable path, after either exhausting others or if other options are not available.
Restricting access to the city
The order can restrict access to residencies and cities, vehicles, owning specific objects, internet use, the ability to leave the country, contact with specified individuals, and the obligation to arrive at a police interrogation if called.
Several months after it passed into law, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) NGO appealed in February to the High Court of Justice against it, arguing that the law serves as a shortcut for clean and proper police work, including the collection of evidence.
ACRI also said that it disproportionately violates citizens’ rights to dignity and freedom and due process and that it harms other democratic principles.
The court, in July, gave National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel Police Commissioner Danny Levi, and Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara until October 29 – after the High Holy Days – to respond to the petition. This came after two requests for extensions.
The restraining order was issued against Jarushi about a month ago by the Lod District Court. The order contained movement restrictions, including blocking Jarushi’s entry into Ramle, Lod, Haifa, Tel-Aviv-Jaffa, and Jerusalem, as well as restrictions on phone use and contact with any figures considered suspects connected to crime gangs.
The prosecution requested from the court to apprehend Jarushi until the termination of legal proceedings against him. Per the indictment, Jarushi held contact with several individuals who were forbidden to him and left his permitted physical boundaries to be in Eilat as well as near Ramle.
He also kept a hidden cell phone, on which he communicated with forbidden contacts on WhatsApp. He later destroyed the phone, obstructing the evidence.