From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, February 18, 2025
Lawmakers approve bill to revoke national insurance benefits from terror convicts
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"
In its first reading, lawmakers vote 21-5 in favor of a bill revoking national insurance benefits from people convicted of a “serious terrorist offense” or imprisoned for murder or attempted murder for terrorist purposes.
Upon the deaths of those subject to the law, their dependents would be ineligible for survivor benefits. However, exceptions for child benefits would be made for children receiving child allowances under certain circumstances.
By engaging in terrorism, people “sever their connection with the state,” says the bill’s sponsor, Likud MK Ofir Katz. “What other country grants benefits and pensions to people who murder its citizens? This is absurd and a moral failure…and we are ending it now.”
