Photo by Yoav Dudkevitch/TPS-IL on 28 October, 2024

Knesset Legislation Cracks Down on Terror

Public By Noah Michaeli • 7 November, 2024

Jerusalem, 7 November, 2024 (TPS-IL) -- The Knesset cracked down on Palestinian terror on Thursday morning, giving final approval to legislation authorizing the government to deport relatives of terrorists and a second bill that allows for the detention of minors who commit terror attacks.

The first law, passed by a vote of 61-41, allows the Interior Minister to expel relatives of terrorists if they knew of and supported their attack.

“In recent years, particularly after the outbreak of the ‘Swords of Iron War,’ which began following the terror attack on October 7, 2023, there has been an increase in cases where Israeli citizens and permanent residents incite terrorism, either by directly calling for acts of terror or by publishing praise, sympathy, or encouragement for these acts, supporting them, or expressing solidarity with them,” the bill’s explanatory note said.

The law “is a significant and aggressive tool to create a formidable balance of deterrence and will reduce terrorism,” said MK Almog Cohen of the Otzma Yehudit party, one of the sponsors of the legislation.

The Choosing Life Forum for terror victims and their families praised the law’s passage, calling it “an important step and a cornerstone in the package of deterrence laws.”

A related law passed the Knesset by a vote of 55-33 allowing authorities to hold minors convicted of terror in custody until they are 14. At that age, pending review, they can be transferred to a secure prison. The law also allows authorities to substitute secure detention with up to 10 days of imprisonment if the minor harms others or poses an immediate danger.