New law passed: Terrorists’ families can be deported from Israel

Terrorists’ parents, siblings, spouses, and children can now be stripped of Israeli citizenship and deported abroad.

By World Israel News Staff

The Knesset approved a new bill granting the Interior Minister the power to deport the immediate family of terrorists who hold Israeli citizenship, with 61 lawmakers voting in favor and 41 voting against the measure.

The bill, which officially became law after its third reading, was approved during a Knesset session that stretched until the early hours of Thursday morning.

The measure was sponsored by MKs Almog Cohen (Religious Zionism), Eliyhau Revivo (Likud), and Hanoch Milwidsky (Likud), who noted that the threat of serious consequences for terrorists’ family members provides an effective deterrent to future attacks.

“From various studies conducted,….regarding dozens of terrorists with Israeli citizenship, it was found that the terrorists’ only concern was what would happen to their families after the attack,” read the bill’s explanatory notes.

“There is no doubt that many terrorists will refrain from carrying out an attack if they know that their families will be punished for it.”

The new law gives the Interior Minister the ability to strip terrorist’ immediate family members, such as their parents, siblings, spouses, and children, of Israeli citizenship or permanent residency, if they had known in advance about the terrorists’ intentions and failed to report or stop the attack.

Each family member will be granted a hearing before potential deportation, with a decision regarding their status in Israel to be made within 14 days.

Notably, the Shin Bet security agency expressed concerns over the law during a closed-door Knesset hearing last week.

The agency asked that the proposal be enacted as a temporary measure, valid only during the ongoing war, rather than a permanent law.

Additionally, the agency asked that the law only be applied to those who have an additional citizenship, so that stripping them of their status in Israel would not leave them stateless.

The lawmakers did not include those caveats in the final version of the bill, which passed on Thursday morning.