In first, High Court approves demolition of home of terrorist who carried out non-fatal attack
Jeremy Sharon is The Times of Israel’s legal affairs and settlements reporter
In a two-to-one decision, the High Court of Justice upholds a decision by the defense minister and the IDF to destroy the home of the parents of a Palestinian terrorist who shot and severely wounded a police officer on October 12 last year.
The ruling means that for the first time, a house demolition will be carried out over an incident in which the victim of a Palestinian terror attack was not killed.
Attorneys for the terrorist’s family argued that house demolitions constitute collective punishment and violate human dignity; that house demolitions should not be carried out where there was no fatality from the terror attack; and that the terrorist’s family was completely uninvolved in the attack.
Writing for the majority, Justice David Mintz, a strict conservative, says that given the severity of the terror attack and the grievous injuries sustained by the police officer, he saw no reason for the court to overrule the decision to destroy the family home just because “by way of a miracle this shooting did not bring about the death [of the police officer].”
The hardline conservative B’Tzalmo legal campaign group welcomes the ruling, saying, “The High Court finally understands the importance of the fight against terrorism even in incidents in which terrorists ‘only’ do severe injury and harm a person and their family for the rest of their lives.”
The Hamoked organization, which provides legal aid to Palestinians, denounces the decision, describing house demolitions as “blatant collective punishment” and calling into question their deterrent effect.
“In today’s ruling, the High Court has further expanded this shameful practice, in contrast to its previous rulings… what is clear is that this is an immoral and illegal practice,” says Hamoked.