First bill targets accident-related benefits paid to Gaza terrorists who worked in Israel, second bill targets benefits paid to parents of child terrorists.
By United with Israel and JNS
The Knesset on Tuesday approved in first reading two bills that aim to remove financial benefits that would otherwise be paid to terrorists or their families.
The first bill, which passed with 23 MKs in favor and 7 against, proposes that a person who is not a resident of Israel and is eligible for benefits paid to him outside Israel, will not be paid the benefits if he has been convicted of an act of terror. It further proposes that the benefit will be withheld from the time of a suspected terrorist’s arrest until the end of proceedings, and that if the suspect is convicted, the withheld benefit will not be paid.
According to the explanatory notes of the bill, “The National Insurance Law, 1995 determines the eligibility of insured persons for benefits in different sectors. In the case of some benefits, such as benefits in the work accident sector, a person may be entitled to the benefits even if he is not a resident of Israel, and even if he is located outside Israel.”
“In the course of the Swords of Iron war, it became apparent that there are also benefits paid to residents of the Gaza Strip who were involved in terrorist activity.”
The second bill, which passed with 23 MKs in favor and 5 against, proposes that benefits paid to a child’s parents for the child, during a period in which the child is imprisoned due to a terrorism conviction, be revoked.
The explanatory notes to the bill state, “As part of the State of Israel’s battle against terrorism, which has intensified in light of the Swords of Iron war, and from the desire to denounce acts of terrorism and to cause parents to supervise their children and make sure that they do not engage in terrorist activity—it is proposed to amend the National Insurance Law (Consolidated Version), 1995.”
The bills are now to be passed to the Labor and Welfare Committee for deliberation.
It was reported at the start of July that dozens of bereaved Israeli families, including some who lost loved ones in the Hamas-led Oct. 7 massacre, have filed a 210 million shekel (about $55,813 million) lawsuit in the Jerusalem District Court against the Western-backed Palestinian Authority over its support for terrorism.
The lawsuit marked the first legal action taken since the Knesset passed the “Compensation for Terror Victims Bill” in March, according to Ynet.
The legislation requires courts to award punitive damages of at least 10 million shekels (~$2.7 million) per fatal casualty. To ease the collection of the awards, judgment may be enforced against “any property of the defendant, including any property seized or frozen by the State of Israel.”
The families included in the first class action base their claim on the fact that the P.A. “encouraged, supported and sanctioned” the terrorist attacks in which their loved ones were murdered, their lawyer told Ynet.
“The war on terror is currently focused in two areas: in the Gaza Strip and in the courtrooms,” said attorney Barak Kedem of the Jerusalem-based Arbus, Kedem, Tzur law firm in a statement cited by the website.
“In Gaza, our soldiers are fighting terrorism. In the courtrooms, we fight the encouragement of terrorism by the Palestinian Authority, which pays vast monthly salaries to terrorists in exchange for the blood they shed, the blood of righteous and pure men, women and children,” he added.