Noam Federman
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Noam Federman is a lawyer and a right-wing Israeli Jew in Hebron and a former leader of the Kach Party. Federman is currently the spiritual leader of the Hilltop Youth, a right-wing Jewish youth movement which seizes strategic hilltops throughout the West Bank. Federman is a former Kach member. Today he supports Baruch Marzel and the Chayil Party. Noam Federman is married to Elisheva Federman.
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[edit] False House Arrest Lawsuit
After his release in October 2005, he filled a suit against the government, which he won. The Jerusalem District Court ordered the government to award 100,000 NIS in damages for falsely placing him under house arrest. The court decision is being heralded as a victory for Israeli civil liberties, as it marks the first time damages were awarded on the grounds of false house arrest and administrative detention.[citation needed]
Federman claims that he has been a long-time target of the Jewish (national) section of the Shin Bet (Shabak / General Security Service). "I'm glad the bubble of the anti-Jewish division in the Shin Bet and the state prosecutor finally burst in their faces. This gang engaged in a crusade against me, where any means were used to attempt to falsely jail me," Federman told Israel Radio. "When it didn't work the regular way, they didn't hesitate to adopt administrative measures against me. This was the last nail in the coffin," he added.
The government alleged that Federman was involved in an attempted bombing of an Arab school in eastern Jerusalem. Although Federman continued to deny the charges against him, and asserted that he had nothing to do with the incident in question, he was placed under house arrest and then administrative detention for almost two years.
Federman's insistence on his innocence ultimately led to Judge Yaakov Tirkel's ruling that the government had no right to impose house arrest on Federman. In his ruling, Tirkel stated that a "man should be punished for his own crimes, not the crimes of others." In the wake of Tirkel's ruling, Federman decided to pursue a suit against the state to compensate him for his losses while he remained under house arrest and administrative detention.
[edit] Responses to the Lawsuit
Irving Gendelman, US Attorney and human rights advocate, saw the government's treatment of Federman as an extension of their pattern of limiting the freedom of expression of those opposed to current policy issues. "The government continues to attempt to implement its policy by limiting the freedom of expression, as a way of preventing people from displaying their opposition to those policies. The classical methods to achieve these goals have been administrative detention and house arrest, which limit a person's abilities to demonstrate or express himself freely," Gendelman told Israel National News today.
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) spokesperson, Yoav Loeff, explained that ACRI has consistently been opposed to house arrests, saying, "The decision sets an important precedent that a person is entitled to compensation for false arrest, in particular, false house arrest."
Federman said that although he was satisfied with today's ruling, he plans to launch personal suits against the members of the Jewish section of the Shabak. Federman stated his determination to "continue to fight for the land of Israel, the people of Israel, and the Torah."
[edit] Federman Today
Noam Federman hosts a weekly Internet program called "Federman Without Censor" which can be heard on the Hebrew section of the Jewish Task Force's website. JTF funds his political and humanitarian activities in Israel.
In November 2005 the Israeli Ministry of Justice expressed its intention to review Federman's application to be licensed as an attorney, claiming that a person with a past as rich with disturbing the peace as his may not be eligible for a license. Federman, amused by the ministry's comment to the press, replied that it was in pattern with the courts' and prosecutor's offices past restrictive behaviour towards him that they would now seek to bar him from acquiring the title he worked for as a law student.
