Israeli minister proposes bill extending immunity for soldiers

Deputy Defense Minister Eli Ben-Dahan proposed a bill that would extend the immunity privilege granted to IDF soldiers for actions committed during military operations. 

Deputy Defense Minister Eli Ben-Dahan has proposed a bill to provide soldiers with an extended amount of time during which they would be immune from criminal prosecution.

Ben-Dahan introduced the bill against the backdrop of the manslaughter conviction of IDF soldier Elor Azaria for having killed a neutralized terrorist.

The bill would essentially extend the time in which soldiers are protected with immunity for their actions during operations. Such a bill could have protected Azaria from prosecution.

The bill says that soldiers should not “bear criminal responsibility, nor be interrogated with a warning and will be immune from any legal proceedings due to actions they carried out or refrained from carrying out, and all before, after, and during an operational activity or terrorist attack that was not part of the day-to-day operational activities of the unit in which he/she works or serves.”

At the same time, Ben-Dahan’s proposed bill strips a soldier’s immunity if he or she “acted in bad faith or caused damage to property or body without any necessity.”

By: Jonathan Benedek, World Israel News

Eli Ben-DahanElor AzariaIDF