Attorney general, once opposed to home-razing, later acquiesced

Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein approved the demolitions of terrorists’ homes in East Jerusalem only reluctantly, the Ynet news outlet reported Thursday.

The attorney general was reportedly opposed to the controversial practice, viewing it as a form of collective punishment, but conceded after accepting the position of Shin Bet security service on the issue.

The security agency argued that the punitive measure was an effective deterrent for potential terrorists and their families, who may discourage their relatives from perpetrating attacks for fear of displacement. The report said that the IDF, by contrast, does not support razing the homes, viewing it as ineffective.

Weinstein was said to favor the deportation of Palestinian militants to the Gaza Strip, instead of home demolitions, as a means of combating terror. The attorney general argued in favor of exile to the Gaza Strip in several high-level meetings, but backed down after several international law experts said that such a move would be considered a war crime.

Weinstein has long detested the house demolitions policy, and called for deportation of terrorists to the Gaza Strip, the Hebrew Yedioth Ahronoth daily’s columnist, Nahum Barnea, wrote earlier this month. However, during the summer conflict, after being approached by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to approve deportations to the coastal enclave, the attorney general demurred.

“Netanyahu asked the attorney general for an answer — yes or no to deportation to Gaza. Don’t pressure me, said the attorney general. If you oblige me to respond, the answer will be negative. Netanyahu got the message. He raised the issue at the cabinet meeting, and then turned to the attorney general. It’s a complex matter, Weinstein replied. So you’re still thinking about it, the prime minister queried. Yes, Weinstein said, and the cabinet moved on to the next topic,” Barnea wrote.

The Israeli government issued demolition orders Thursday to the families of the two East Jerusalem residents who carried out a rampage in a synagogue in the city that killed five people earlier in the week, granting them 48 hours to appeal the decision. The move came a day after Israeli forces knocked down the home of the family of another East Jerusalem terrorist, marking a return to the controversial practice.

Earlier Thursday, the High Court shot down a government request to raze the house of a terrorist who rammed into a Jerusalem bus with a tractor on August 4, killing Avraham Walles, 29.

Two other families of terrorists in East Jerusalem have now been formally notified that their homes are slated for demolition.

One is that of Mu’taz Hijazi, 32, from Abu Tor, who on October 29 tried to gun down a right-wing Jewish activist Yehuda Glick, critically wounding him. Hijazi was shot dead the following morning during a police raid.

The second is the home of Ibrahim al-Akary, 38, from the Shuafat refugee camp, who on November 5 rammed his car into pedestrians, killing a teenager and a policeman and wounding nine, before also being shot dead at the scene.

The punitive measure has been condemned by the international community. On Wednesday, State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke said the demolitions “are counterproductive in an already tense situation.”

“This is a practice I would remind that the Israeli government itself discontinued in the past, recognizing its effects,” he said.