East Jerusalem attackers’ bodies to be released for burial

The High Court ruled Thursday that the bodies of nine Palestinian attackers from East Jerusalem are to be returned to their families for burial within a month as the state no longer opposes the move.

Israel had drawn criticism by holding onto the bodies of some perpetrators in a spate of Palestinian attacks until families agree not to hold funerals that could be turned into nationalist rallies. The policy has shifted in recent days.

Family members of the nine had appealed to the court to order the bodies released, but during the hearing the representative for the state declared that authorities had removed their objections to returning the bodies.

The bodies are to be returned before the start of the month-long Muslim festival of Ramadan, which begins early in June.

In order to enable burial in accordance withe Muslim tradition, the court also ordered the bodies be removed from storage freezers 48 hours before the funeral.

Some of the bodies, which will be returned in stages, could be released as early as next week.

On Tuesday authorities handed over to Palestinians the body of a man who ran over and injured three IDF soldiers near the West Bank settlement of Dolev earlier that evening.

The Prime Minister’s Office said Tuesday that the authority to allow or forbid the return of attackers’ bodies to their family now lies with Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon and Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, who hold opposing views on the matter.

At the outset of the current wave of violence, now in its eighth month, Erdan recommended holding on to the bodies of Palestinian assailants, claiming the funerals turn into “an exhibition of support for terror and incitement to murder,” but Ya’alon had said holding bodies could be more of a liability than an asset.

Twenty-nine Israelis and four others have been killed in a wave of Palestinian terrorism and violence since October. Nearly 200 Palestinians have been killed, some two-thirds of them while attacking Israelis, and the rest during clashes with troops, according to the Israeli army.

Several Israeli authorities and officials, including Netanyahu, have expressed support for holding on to or significantly delaying the return of attackers’ bodies. The delay is thought to lessen the significance attached to any particular attacker, and so to reduce attendance at the funerals.

But Ya’alon, backed by the recommendations of the IDF and Shin Bet, has opposed this policy, saying the practice causes greater anger among Palestinians and undermines PA security forces who work with Israel to prevent attacks.

The disagreement has led to an inconsistent policy, with the bodies of terrorists who attacked Israelis in the West Bank, which is under the purview of the Defense Ministry, usually being released not long after attacks, whereas those of attackers who acted within Israel, where the Public Security Ministry has jurisdiction, are held for extended periods of time.