An Israeli government proposal to demolish homes of Palestinians from Arab East Jerusalem who attack Israelis is legally viable
JERUSALEM: An Israeli government proposal to demolish homes of Palestinians from Arab East Jerusalem who attack Israelis is legally viable, Israel’s attorney-general wrote in a legal opinion.
Menachem Mazuz gave his legal response following a proposal by prime minister Ehud Olmert on Thursday that Israel should destroy the homes of “every terrorist from Jerusalem” after a Palestinian killed three Israelis in a bulldozer rampage.
“In light of repeated rulings over the years by the Supreme Court, it cannot be said that there is a legal objection to using the right to demolish houses within Jerusalem, but the move would create considerable legal difficulties,” Mazuz was quoted as saying in excerpts released by the Justice Ministry.
Israeli authorities say Wednesday’s attack and the fatal shootings of eight seminary students in March were carried out by Palestinians from the Arab east of the city. They hold Israeli identity cards that give them wide freedom of movement.
Mazuz warned that apart from legal challenges in Israeli courts, dusting off the practice of house demolitions could draw international condemnation.
“The detailed inspection of the circumstances surrounding each case should be conducted by the Shin Bet and the army in coordination with the Justice Ministry,” Mazuz said.
Olmert told an economic conference in the southern port city of Eilat on Thursday that Israel should “be tougher in some of the means we use against perpetrators of terror. If we have to destroy houses, then we must do so”.
Israel abandoned the demolitions of homes of Palestinians involved in attacks against its citizens after human rights groups challenged the practice in Israel’s Supreme Court.
Defence and legal officials met on Thursday to discuss the issue. Some 20 people live in the attacker’s family home and relatives said they had no prior knowledge of his intentions.
Israel annexed East Jerusalem in a move not recognised internationally, after capturing the area in a 1967 war, and gave Palestinians there the same blue identity cards issued to Jewish and Arab citizens of the Jewish state. Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state.
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