Today (Wednesday), in a preliminary reading, the Knesset plenum approved of MK Zvi Sukkot”s bill that establishes heavy fines for waving a “terrorist flag” or publishing photos of terrorists and symbols of terrorist organizations.
The law provides the tools to combat the incitement that leads to terrorism because in the current situation enforcing the law has not been effective. While the punishment for identifying with a terrorist organization is three years in prison, according to the existing law the filing of an indictment requires the approval of the Attorney General, a condition which, in practice, has greatly reduced its enforcement. Justice Ministry data for two years show fewer than fifty indictments for crimes of incitement, with not a single indictment for waving a flag, symbol, or image of a terrorist.
As a result, MK Sukkot (Religious Zionism) submitted a bill that supplements the existing law, under which police officers will be able to issue a heavy financial fine in clear cases of support and incitement to terrorism. The amount proposed in the bill is a fine of 10,000 NIS and in the case of a repeat offense 20,000 NIS. As mentioned, the law was passed in the Knesset plenum today in the preliminary reading.
Among the opposition factions – National Unity and Yisrael Beytenu were absent from the vote, while Yesh Atid, Labor, and Hadash-Ta’al voted against it.
In presenting the bill to the Knesset plenum, MK Sukkot said: “Especially in these moments, when we are under attack by terrorist organizations that want to destroy us all without distinction, we realize that encouraging these organizations is unimaginable, and therefore today there is nothing more symbolic than supporting this bill.”
Justice Minister Yariv Levin, who came forward to respond to the proposal, praised the bill and said: “This is a worthy proposal like no other it is right and just. It’s unfortunate, it’s hard to believe that such incitement happens in plain sight without disturbance. One of the best things about this bill is that it takes a practical look at the situation with the understanding that the law enforcement systems are not dealing with it as they should. Therefore, I have to agree that it’s probably better to switch from prison terms to administrative fines.”