From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, October 29, 2024
Knesset committee advances bill to deport relatives of terrorist attackers
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. 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"
Members of the Knesset House Committee vote 9-2 to advance a bill that would allow the government to deport terrorists’ relatives. The bill will now go to the Knesset plenum for the second and third readings necessary for it to become law.
The controversial legislation gives the interior minister the power to deport a first-degree relative of someone who carried out an attack if he or she had advance knowledge and either failed to report the matter to the police or expressed support for the act of terrorism. The law expressly applies to Israeli citizens, who under the bill will retain their citizenship even after being expelled from the country.
During the hearing, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir states that he believes the authority to order expulsions would be better placed with his ministry, and expresses hope that the High Court of Justice will not strike the bill down if passed into law.
Speaking with The Times of Israel, several members of the committee, including Otzma Yehudit MK Almog Cohen and New Hope lawmaker Ze’ev Elkin, dismiss concerns that granting the power to deport citizens to a minister and not the courts could be legally problematic.
A representative of the Justice Ministry tells lawmakers that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has yet to provide an official position on the legislation.
During the debate, Likud MK Ariel Kallner argues that Israel is facing an “enemy within,” while Ra’am MK Yasir Hujeirat decries the proposed law as “collective punishment.”
