Contested bill to expel family members of terrorists passes into law

Israel's Knesset passed into law early on Thursday morning a bill proposal to enable the expulsion under certain conditions of family members of Israeli citizens or residents who committed acts of terror.

The law, which passed 61-41 after an all-night filibuster by the opposition, grants the interior minister authority, following a hearing, to order the deportation of a terrorist’s family member—such as a father, mother, sibling, child, spouse, or common-law partner—to Gaza or another location.

This decision to expel the family member would be based on whether they were aware of the planned terrorist act and failed to make necessary efforts to prevent it, including notifying security forces, or publicly supported or identified with the terrorist act or praised, sympathized with, or encouraged terrorism or terrorist organizations.

Explanatory notes on the law cite studies by the National Security Council and the IDF found that among terrorists with Israeli citizenship, a primary concern was the impact their actions would have on their families.

These findings suggest that terrorists knowing their families could face consequences may deter them from carrying out attacks.

The law passed despite security and constitutional concerns expressed by the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) and legal advisors. Shin Bet representatives reportedly warned in closed-door Knesset committee meetings last month that expelling families of terrorists could lead to heightened security tensions. The Shin Bet also reportedly suggested limiting the scope of the law to apply only to parents of terrorists who hold dual citizenship.

Knesset Legal Advisors pointed out that the law may be viewed by the High Court of Justice as a form of collective punishment. According to legal advisors, existing laws already addressed issues of family members being complicit in a crime by not reporting it, and these could apply to acts of terror as well. Legal advisors also pointed out that the law lacked logical coherency, since the punishment of expulsion was more severe than the punishment of incarceration applied to the terrorist himself. Legal advisors suggested that the law apply to the terrorists themselves and not their family members.

However, these recommendations were ultimately rejected.

Opposition split on voting 

The law that passed was an amalgamation of four different proposals by MKs Almog Cohen (Otzma Yehudit), Hanoch Milvetsky (Likud), Elyahu Revivo (Likud), and Oded Forer (Yisrael Beytenu). Revivo admitted in an interview on Army Radio on Thursday morning that the law may be struck down in the High Court. Revivo said that he and Forer had preferred to pass a softened version of the bill that had a higher chance of passing judicial review, but that this was ultimately rejected by coalition whip and Knesset Home Committee chairman MK Ofir Katz.

The law caused a split in opposition voting less than 24 hours after opposition party leaders held a joint press conference in which they pledged to ramp up their parliamentary and public effort to topple the government. Yesh Atid announced on Wednesday evening that it would no longer support any bills proposed by the coalition, but Yisrael Beytenu clarified soon after that it supported the bill and would vote in favor.