News Brief

(IsraelNN.com) The Knesset voted overwhelmingly Wednesday in favor of four laws known as "Dromi Laws," which would make shooting a trespasser legal in Israel. The laws – tabled by MK Yitzhak Aharonovich (Yisrael Beiteinu), Yisrael Katz (Likud), Tzvi Handel (NU/NRP) and Eliyahu Gabai (NU/NRP) - are similar, and all of them passed in preliminary readings. They were initiated in response to the case of farmer Shai Dromi, who shot and killed a Bedouin thief who trespassed on his land last month, and has been indicted for manslaughter.

Minister of Justice Prof. Daniel Friedman said that the law was unsatisfactory in its present form, and more restraint needed to be worked into it. "An armed reservist could mistakenly enter agricultural property at night (and be shot)," he explained. Friedman represented the government in the Knesset debate. However, the minister admitted that "in Israel the situation is grave, especially because the government – and not just this one – does not give its citizens the protection they deserve from criminals."