Ministers back bill to form special tribunal for trying Oct. 7 terrorists, but difficulties remain

Government ministers decide to give their backing to a bill that would establish a special tribunal for putting on trial terrorists who participated in the October 7, 2023, atrocities and for charging them with acts of genocide against the Jewish people.

The bill is co-sponsored by coalition MK Simcha Rothman, head of the Knesset’s Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, and by MK Yuli Malinowsky of the opposition Yisrael Beytenu party. It is approved by the Ministerial Committee for Legislation, meaning the legislation will be backed by the coalition when it comes to the Knesset for its preliminary reading.

Israel captured hundreds of the Hamas-led terrorists who participated in the October 7 massacres, but has yet to issue indictments against them due to the complications of trying such large numbers of people and the difficulties involved in trying them under regular criminal procedures.

The new legislation would therefore establish a special tribunal, composed of 15 judges in total, which would hear cases in panels of three or five judges, depending on the type of indictment filed.

Crucially, the bill enables the tribunal to “deviate” from the accepted legal processes and evidentiary standards in Israel’s regular courts, to effectively try the large numbers of terrorists suspected of involvement in the atrocities.

Israel’s Law for Preventing and Punishing Genocide from 1950 provides for the death penalty for anyone found guilty of violating its provisions.

Hebrew media has reported that the Attorney General’s Office opposes the legislation, saying it contravenes foundational principles of criminal law in Israel, and could harm the international legitimacy of legal processes that state prosecutors have already taken and will take against the October 7 perpetrators.