From the Liveblog of
Sunday, July 21, 2024
Otzma Yehudit submits bill to grant soldiers, civilians immunity for actions taken on Oct. 7
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"
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s far-right Otzma Yehudit party submits a bill that would grant soldiers, police officers and regular citizens full criminal and civil immunity for any actions taken while fighting against Hamas’s devastating attack on October 7.
The bill comes in direct response to an investigation into three Israeli civilians recently arrested on suspicion of killing a Palestinian man on October 7 and stealing weaponry from Israeli troops. According to Walla, the chief suspect is alleged to have seized a Palestinian whom he identified as an operative in Hamas’s elite Nukhba force, interrogated him, and executed him at the end of the interrogation.
In a statement, Ben Gvir says that “whoever saved a life should receive a commendation, not a criminal investigation from the prosecutor’s office.”
“I would very much like to believe that the law is unnecessary, but unfortunately reality proves otherwise,” adds Otzma Yehudit MK Limor Son Har-Melech, who submitted the bill on behalf of the party.
According to the text of the bill, “an Israeli citizen will not be held criminally or civilly liable, will not be investigated as a suspect and will be immune from any legal action related to actions he performed or orders he gave as part of combat operations or the defense of the State of Israel on October 7-8.”
Earlier this month, Ben Gvir slammed State Prosecutor Amit Aisman over the case, calling on him to “remember that he is the attorney of the State of Israel, and not of its enemies.”
Testifying before the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee today, Aisman said that he “approved the opening of the investigation after consultations, and only after we were convinced that the evidence required the opening of an investigation, and we did so with a heavy heart.”
“Even in a combat situation, when a person does not pose a danger and is completely neutralized his death can amount to a crime,” Aisman reportedly said.
