Attorney general raises objections to law deporting terrorists’ families

Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit announces his official opposition to proposed legislation that would allow Israel to forcibly relocate the families of Palestinian terrorists from their homes to other areas of the West Bank.

In a statement released following press queries on whether Mandelblit had advised ministers not to vote yesterday to support the bill, the attorney general’s office says the measures in the proposal “severely infringe upon the liberty and property of the family members who are intended for deportation, due to the act of another family member and without proof that [the family] also poses a danger.”

According to Mandelblit, the current law allows for Israel to “assign a place of residence” to Palestinians citizens “only if there is a specific threat from that person… and after examining the proportionality” of expelling them from their home.

“There is therefore a constitutional impediment to advancing the proposed legislation,” the statement says.

“The proposal also raises significant challenges on the international level,” it adds, referring to potential blowback from passing the law.

The statement also notes that “arguments suggesting that the position of the attorney general harms state security are entirely baseless.”

On Sunday, Jewish Home chairman Naftali Bennett praised the decision of the Ministerial Committee for Legislation to advance the bill, saying, “Jews are murdered because participation in terror attacks has become a lucrative business, and legal considerations paralyze the defense establishment from acting.”

— Raoul Wootliff