Israel’s Knesset has passed a law allowing the government to deport family members of people convicted of terrorism crimes, including Israeli citizens.
The controversial legislation, passed by a vote of 61 to 41, applies to first-degree relatives, meaning parents, siblings or children of those found guilty.
Israeli human rights groups called the law unconstitutional.
Some opposition members of the Knesset say it only targets Israel’s Palestinian citizens, sometimes called Israeli Arabs.
The law allows for the deportation of family members of those who have prior knowledge but fail to report the matter to the police or who “express support for or approval of terrorist acts.”
Relatives of those who publish “praising, sympathizing with or encouraging terrorist acts or terrorist organizations” may also be deported.
The interior minister will order the relatives to be deported. According to the Times of Israel website, some members of the Knesset said during the debate on the bill that the bill would not be used to target Jewish Israeli citizens.
“Igor Amir’s family will not be deported anywhere,” said the Democratic Party’s Merav Micheli, referring to the Jewish extremists who assassinated former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.
Yesh Atid’s Mickey Levy launched a similar attack, asking “whether to deport Ben Gvir’s family,” referring to National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s youth conviction for sedition Convicted of violence and support of terrorist organizations.
Israeli political analyst Dr Daria Scheindlin told the BBC there was “no doubt” the law was intended to apply to Arabs and Palestinians.
“Under this law, Jewish citizens of Israel are unlikely to be deported,” Dr. Scheindlin said.
“This is clear from certain provisions of the law itself, but there are also important factors that determine how the law is applied, including the fact that in normal Israeli parlance, the word ‘terror’ is almost never applied to Jewish attacks against Palestinian civilians. violent behavior.
About 20% of the country’s population are Palestinian citizens of Israel, also known as Israeli Arabs.
Some of them were convicted last year for posting support or sympathy for Hamas on social media.
Both the Justice Department and the Attorney General’s Office have expressed concerns about how the legislation, which could be challenged in court, is enforced.
Elan Shamir-Borrell, a senior fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute and a former international law expert in the Israeli military, said the legislation would likely be struck down if it went to the Supreme Court based on Israel’s previous cases related to deportations.
“The bottom line is that this is completely unconstitutional and in clear conflict with Israel’s core values,” Shamir Boller told The Associated Press.
The deportees will be sent to Gaza or “another destination determined according to the circumstances.”
With the exception of the military, ordinary Israeli citizens are not legally allowed to enter Gaza.
About 100 Israelis are believed to be held hostage by Hamas in Gaza, of whom about 60 are believed to be alive.
Israeli citizens will retain their citizenship even after being deported. They are not allowed to return for seven to fifteen years.
For permanent residents, they may be subject to deportation for 10 to 20 years.
Most Palestinians in East Jerusalem have permanent residency in Israel.
Additionally, a five-year interim order was approved allowing for custodial sentences for children under 14 years old who are guilty of murder as a result of a terrorist act or the activities of a terrorist organization.
