Shaked: A-G’s opposition to harsher penalties for rioters not binding

Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked on Monday dismissed objections by Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein to proposed legislation to enforce mandatory minimum sentences for stone throwers, remarking that the government legal adviser’s opinion was not binding.

“The attorney general — it’s his right and his duty is to give his opinion,” she told Army Radio. “At the end of the day, if something is not unconstitutional, [it is] the cabinet [that] decides whether to legislate the law or not. ”

Shaked has backed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his calls for toughening punishments for stone-throwing and firebombings amid a surge in attacks in and around Jerusalem in the past week. During a meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem on Sunday to discuss Israel’s response to the recent flare-up of violence in the capital, Weinstein came out against proposed legislation to enforce mandatory minimum sentences for those convicted of throwing rocks or firebombs at police, civilians or cars in Jerusalem and across the West Bank — key legislative changes sought by Netanyahu.

The attorney general also expressed his opposition to a proposal to relax restrictions on police use of live ammunition against Palestinians throwing stones or firebombs in Jerusalem and the West Bank.

“On the legislative level, the decision is ours — the cabinet ministers’,” Shaked added, noting that the law already provides for minimum sentences for sex offenses and assaults on police officers.

Shaked also said Weinstein, in part, is opposed to the bill because legislation passed two months ago by the Knesset already ramps up jail sentences for stone throwers. The law allows for a maximum incarceration period of 20 years if it can be proven the assailant intended to inflict harm.

Also under the new law, obstructing police activity by throwing stones at officers or police vehicles is punishable by up to five years in prison.

Weinstein has suggested instituting minimum sentences for such offenses through a one-year trial period, but Shaked said she would campaign for a three-year period.

The details of the minimum sentence plan are set to be finalized at a meeting Netanyahu has called for Thursday.

Weinstein on Sunday authorized the use of the Ruger rifle, a .22 caliber firearm with a capacity to neutralize while less lethal than heavier weapons, and indicated at the meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office that it was a sufficient measure for the time being.

On Monday, the Hebrew daily Haaretz reported that police intend to make use of the Ruger rifle when confronting violent Bedouin protesters in the south of the country where demonstrations regarding the status of unrecognized communities often flare into riots.

Shaked is also seeking changes in law to impose fines on the parents of children under the age of 12 who are caught throwing stones. She has proposed that parents pay NIS 10,000-20,000 ($2,500-$5,000), which would be returned if the children do not repeat the crime within a year.

Under current Israeli law, children below the age of 12 cannot be held accountable for crimes.

In a similar move, Shaked wants to fine parents of convicted stone throwers who are below the age of 18, the Hebrew-language Ynet website reported. Current law enables fining parents or extracting compensation for the victims of youngsters who are indicted but not convicted on stone-throwing offenses. The fines and compensation are a compromise to try to keep the indicted teens from having a criminal record, but Shaked proposed that even following a conviction the parents should be made to pay the fines.

Shaked further emphasized that legislation alone will not be enough to end the uptick in violence because, she claimed, it is being fueled by persistent anti-Semitic incitement from the Palestinian Authority and Hamas.