Knesset passes law allowing imprisonment of terrorists under age 14
In a vote of 55 to 33 – out of 120 – Israel’s Knesset has voted final passage on a new law that will allow courts to sentence terrorists under the age of 14 to prison.
The Israeli Knesset building in Jerusalem on March 27, 2023. Photo by Kobi Natan/TPS
Minors between the ages of 12-14 sentenced to prison for the crimes of death under terrorist circumstances will remain in a locked residence until they are transferred to prison at the age of 14.
It is also proposed to determine whether a minor accused of the capital offence who is held in a locked residence can be ordered to be transferred to detention for fixed periods if he poses a danger or harms others.
The Knesset cracked down on Palestinian terror also giving final approval to legislation authorizing the government to deport relatives of terrorists and a second bill that allows for the detention of minors who commit terror attacks.
The first law, passed by a vote of 61-41, allows the Interior Minister to expel relatives of terrorists if they knew of and supported their attack.
“In recent years, particularly after the outbreak of the ‘Swords of Iron War,’ which began following the terror attack on October 7, 2023, there has been an increase in cases where Israeli citizens and permanent residents incite terrorism, either by directly calling for acts of terror or by publishing praise, sympathy, or encouragement for these acts, supporting them, or expressing solidarity with them,” the bill’s explanatory note said.
The law “is a significant and aggressive tool to create a formidable balance of deterrence and will reduce terrorism,” said MK Almog Cohen of the Otzma Yehudit party, one of the sponsors of the legislation.
The Choosing Life Forum for terror victims and their families praised the law’s passage, calling it “an important step and a cornerstone in the package of deterrence laws.”
TPS
