Israel approves jailing terrorists from age 12

Knesset passes law that ensures minors under age 14 convicted of serious violent crimes not be ‘shown mercy by the law’

Attorney Tareq Barghout (L) is seen with his client, 13-year-old accused terrorist Ahmed Manasra, at Jerusalem District Court on October 25, 2015. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Attorney Tareq Barghout (L) is seen with his client, 13-year-old accused terrorist Ahmed Manasra, at Jerusalem District Court on October 25, 2015. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Israeli lawmakers have approved jailing children as young as 12 who have been convicted of terrorism, following repeated attacks by young Palestinians.

“The ‘Youth Bill,’ which will allow the authorities to imprison a minor convicted of serious crimes such as murder, attempted murder or manslaughter even if he or she is under the age of 14, passed its second and third readings…Tuesday night,” an English-language statement from the Knesset said.

It added that the seriousness of attacks in recent months “demands a more aggressive approach, including toward minors.”

The statement quoted Anat Berko, a lawmaker from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party and the bill’s sponsor, as saying “to those who are murdered with a knife in the heart it does not matter if the child is 12 or 15.”

At least 34 Israelis, two Americans, an Eritrean and a Sudanese have been killed by Palestinians since October, according to an AFP count. Some 219 Palestinians have also been killed, most of them when carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks, according to Israeli authorities.

Many of the Palestinian assailants were young people, including teenagers. Other youths have been shot dead during protests and clashes with security forces.

Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked arrives for the weekly cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem, March 13, 2016. (Marc Israel Sellem/POOL)
Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked arrives for the weekly cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem, March 13, 2016. (Marc Israel Sellem/POOL)

Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked gave the bill full backing when it came before a ministerial committee last year.

“Youths, such as Ahmed Manasra, who engage in terror and seek the death of Jewish civilians will not be shown mercy by the law,” media quoted her as saying.

Manasra, a 14-year-old Palestinian, was convicted in May of the attempted murder of two Israelis in a knife attack last October. He was 13 when he carried out the attack.

Rescue services at the scene of a stabbing attack in Jerusalem's Pisgat Zeev neighborhood on October 12, 2015 (Israel Police)
Rescue services at the scene of a stabbing attack in Jerusalem’s Pisgat Zeev neighborhood on October 12, 2015 (Israel Police)

His sentencing hearings will begin on September 22.

Along with a 15-year-old cousin, he stabbed and seriously wounded a 20-year male security guard and a 12-year-old boy in the northern Jerusalem neighborhood of Pisgat Zeev.

The cousin was shot dead by security forces, while Manasra was hit by a car as they fled.

Manasra, an East Jerusalem resident, was the youngest Palestinian to be convicted by an Israeli civilian court in the current round of violence.

Israeli rights group B’Tselem criticized the bill and Israel’s treatment of Palestinian youths.

“Rather than sending them to prison, Israel would be better off sending them to school where they could grow up in dignity and freedom not under occupation,” it said in a statement Wednesday.

“Imprisoning such young minors denies them the chance of a better future.”

Military law, applied to Palestinian residents of the West Bank, already allows imprisonment of 12-year-olds.

A 12-year-old Palestinian girl from the West Bank, convicted of attempted murder by a military court as part of a plea bargain and sentenced to four months, was released from prison in April.

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