Do you let your kids "free-range" or are they caged and corn-fed?

I saw the below article regarding parents who let their children (8 & 10) walk one mile home without adult supervision. Apparently they are "free range" children. This is quite common in Israel and the parents in the article have an Israeli sounding last name.

I will try to do some research on the law here in Israel regarding this. In the meantime, see below for the full article.

FAMILY LAW

Parents investigated for allowing their ‘free-range’ kids to walk home alone

By Debra Cassens Weiss

Jan 15, 2015, 06:52 am CST

A Maryland couple who believe in “free-range” parenting say they are under investigation for allowing their children to walk home alone from a Silver Spring park.
The children are 10 and 6, and the walk home was a mile in length, the Washington Post reports. Police picked up the children on Dec. 20 about halfway through their journey. The children that day weren’t carrying their laminated card that reads, “I am not lost. I am a free-range kid.”
The parents, Danielle and Alexander Meitiv, say Montgomery County Child Protective Services has launched a neglect investigation. CPS spokesperson Mary Anderson refused comment on the case, but said neglect investigations typically look for guidance to a state law that says children younger than 8 must be left with a reliable person who is at least 13 years old. The law applies to dwellings, enclosures and vehicles.
Danielle, a climate-science consultant, told the Washington Post that her children have proven themselves responsible. “The world is actually even safer than when I was a child, and I just want to give them the same freedom and independence that I had—basically an old-fashioned childhood,” she said. “I think it’s absolutely critical for their development—to learn responsibility, to experience the world, to gain confidence and competency.”
Alexander Meitiv, a physicist at the National Institutes of Health, also objected to the investigation. “We feel we’re being bullied into a point of view about child-rearing that we strongly disagree with,” he said.

Israel Hayom | AG: IDF protocol does not permit shooting abducted soldier

Israel Hayom | AG: IDF protocol does not permit shooting abducted soldier:

AG: IDF protocol does not permit shooting abducted soldier

Military can act to prevent abductions, even at risk to victim, but cannot use deadly force on victim, says Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein, following inquiry by civil rights group • The Hannibal Protocol must meet international legal criteria, he says.

Edna Adato and Israel Hayom Staff

Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein  |  Photo credit: Lior Mizrahi

The Israel Defense Forces' abduction prevention measures must follow international legal criteria and cannot entail the use of deadly force against the victim, Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein said Monday.

Weinstein was responding to an inquiry by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel requesting clarification on the military's Hannibal Protocol, which is designed to thwart the capture of Israeli security forces by enemy agents and allows commanders in the field to take whatever actions are necessary to foil such abductions.

The association petitioned Weinstein in August following the failed rescue attempt of Lt. Hadar Goldin, who was killed near Rafah during Operation Protective Edge in the Gaza Strip, and asked Weinstein to make the directives associated with Hannibal Protocol public. The Justice Ministry denied the petition, saying the protocol was classified. The ministry did, however, say the protocol had been recently revised following lengthy preparatory work by the military.

The directives, Weinstein said, do not suggest, directly or indirectly, that preventing a soldier's abduction entails using deadly force on the victim.

"We believe the directives exercised as part of this protocol reflect the proper balance of the various considerations intrinsic to such situations," his response said.

"A military operation meant to thwart an ongoing abduction attempt almost always entails placing the abductee in a certain amount of danger. Israeli and international law do not bar the actions necessary to prevent abductions, even if they may endanger the abductee's life, but nevertheless, the operational directives bar the use of deadly force meant to cause the abductee's death."

The military is still investigating the circumstances of Goldin's death, and Weinstein stressed Monday that the final decision on any future proceedings in the case falls to Military Judge Advocate General Maj. Gen. Danny Efroni.

"Exercising the authority vested him by the Military Jurisdiction Act, the judge advocate general has sole jurisdiction on the matter. His actions are independent and he is guided only by legal considerations," Weinstein said.