Bill mandating prison for desecrating heritage sites, memorials passes 1st reading

By Sam Sokol 8 January 2025, 4:22 pm

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Sam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"

A bill mandating prison terms for the desecration of heritage sites, monuments and memorials passes a preliminary reading in the Knesset plenum 24-0.

If passed into law, the legislation, co-sponsored by Likud MK Moshe Saada and Religious Zionism’s Simcha Rothman, would prohibit damaging or desecrating such national sites.

Those convicted of doing so would face a two-year jail sentence and would make relatives of fallen soldiers whose memorials are desecrated eligible to receive damages of up to NIS 120,000 ($32,775).