In January 2013,
HaMoked filed a petition to the High Court of Justice (HCJ) to instruct the military to allow a Palestinian resident of Israel to enter the Gaza Strip, together with her husband and seven minor children, in order to visit her ailing mother, whom she has not seen for six years. The petition was filed after the military rejected the woman's request to visit the mother "due to a security objection", despite the fact that she was never arrested or interrogated.
In April 2013, the woman was summoned for interrogation at the Israel Security Agency (ISA), whereupon the state notified the court that "it has not been found that the decision concerning the petitioners, not to allow their entry to the Gaza Strip, should be altered." The state attached an
"interrogation report" to its response to the petition.
The interrogation report offers a glimpse into the decision making mechanism of the ISA regarding "security" bans. Thus, for example, the report notes that the woman "maintains constant phone contact" with her sisters and brothers; that her husband did not serve in the military despite being an Israeli resident; and that she "assumes her children will not serve in the military as well". Article 7 of the report is even more astounding, determining that "in attempts to ascertain her attitude to the State of Israel, she evaded answering but her body language revealed that she was not being honest with us"; recall, this is a woman who was born in the Gaza Strip, and there she lived until her marriage.
At the conclusion of the court hearings, HaMoked erased the petition following
the court's recommendation and the state's guarantee "to favorably consider, although according to criteria, the possibility of the mother's visit in Israel."
