Supreme Court approves home demolition of Kiryat Arba terrorist
Family of Palestinian who stabbed Hallel Ariel, 13, to death in her bed knew son supported attacks on innocent civilians, justices say
Judah Ari Gross is The Times of Israel's religions and Diaspora affairs correspondent.
The Supreme Court approved a demolition order on Wednesday for the home of a Palestinian terrorist who stabbed to death a 13-year-old Israeli girl in June, noting that some of the stabber’s family members were at least partially aware of his intentions and supported the murder after the fact.
With the court’s decision, the Defense Ministry will now be able to either demolish or seal off the second floor of the building in Bani Na’im, outside of Hebron, where the family lives.
On June 30, Muhammad Nasser Tarayrah, 17, broke into the nearby Jewish settlement of Kiryat Arba and stabbed Ariel to death as she slept in her bed.
The settlement’s security team arrived on the scene and shot Tarayrah dead. A member of the community’s emergency response team was also injured in the terror attack.
Tarayrah’s family was first served with a demolition order on July 5, but appealed the order through the Center for the Defence of the Individual non-governmental organization.
Though the order was upheld, the court did alter it, refusing the state’s request to demolish not only the second floor of the building, but the first and third floors as well.
That decision was “based on the principle of proportionality to which the prosecution is beholden,” the court said in its ruling. “It is not possible to approve the prosecution’s decision to demolish the first and third floor of the building. There is no disagreement that the terrorist lived on the second floor of the building, and only there.”
As per Israel’s Emergency Security Regulations — which has its origins in Ottoman law — the military commander of a given area “has the right to order the demolition of any house, structure or land” of anyone who took part in a violent act or assisted those who took part in a violent act.
Israel argues that home demolitions are not punishments, but rather serve as a deterrent, preventing future attacks, according to section 119 of Israel’s Emergency Security Regulations.
While neither the justices nor the prosecution alleged the family had “positive and concrete” evidence that Tarayrah was going to carry out an attack, the ruling noted that his relatives knew of, and supported, his beliefs.
In their decision, the judges in the case — Yoram Danziger, Uzi Vogelman and Noam Sohlberg — wrote that the family was “aware that the terrorist identified with the idea of carrying out a terror attack against innocent civilians,” and did not try to stop him.
The justices also pointed to Facebook posts published by Tarayrah, including one reading, “Death is my right, and I am demanding my right,” which his brother admitted to having seen prior to the attack, as well as to statements made by his sister Lara after the fact, praising her brother’s actions.
“My brother, you have brought pride to us, to your family, and not only to your family, but all of Bani Na’im,” his sister said in an interview after the attack.
After footage of the interview was published, Israeli forces arrested the 22-year-old for “incitement and encouragement of attackers to engage in terrorist attacks,” the army said.
The court will allow the family 10 days for “preparation” before the residence is cleared for demolition.
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