High Court rules no demolition of Abu Khdeir killers’ homes

The High Court of Justice rejects a petition that sought the demolition of the homes of the killers of East Jerusalem teen Muhammad Abu Khdeir in July 2014.

Israel employs the controversial measure of home demolitions against the families of Palestinian terrorists, with some security agencies arguing it serves as a deterrent for further terror attacks. Critics charge that the practice unjustly punishes whole families for crimes committed by individuals.

The family of Abu Khdeir, who was kidnapped and brutally murdered by three Israeli Jews on July 2, 2014, demanded the same measure be applied to the family homes of the Jewish murderers.

In its ruling, issued this afternoon, the High Court affirms that the anti-terror regulation that allows for home demolitions “applies equally to Arab terrorists and to Jewish terrorists, each case according to its circumstances.”

But it notes that the practice is only justified for its possible deterrent power, and so must be carried out in the immediate aftermath of a terror attack and have a reasonable chance of deterring future attacks. Given the long delay between the attack and the filing of the appeal for demolition — the family first made its request in May 2016 — the specific appeal in this case is rejected.

The court has repeatedly stopped demolitions of Palestinian terrorists’ homes on the same grounds of a months-long delay between an attack and an attempted demolition.