Rioters may be shot, rights group says
Rioters may be shot, rights group saysArutz Sheva photo: Flash 90

A document compiled by IDF lawyers that demands extreme restraint in the face of Palestinian Authority violence may be illegal, the Yesha Human Rights Organization has warned.

The document orders security teams in the many Israeli towns in Judea and Samaria to avoid using live fire even if PA mobs break into the towns with the intent of causing destruction. Gunfire should be used only once it is clear that “there is a crime that poses a threat to life or bodily welfare,” the IDF legal team said.

In fact, Israeli law allows for the use of deadly force to protect ones property from invaders, rights group legal experts stated. According to a law known as “Dromi’s law” after farmer Shai Dromi, victims of break-ins may fight trespassers without waiting for an outright attack, and are not responsible for ascertaining the criminals' intentions.

Rights Group head, Attorney Orit Strook has turned to the IDF Chief of Staff, Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein, Justice Minister Yaakov Neeman and others in an attempt to clarify the matter. Thus far, there has been no response.

Strook said that if military and political leaders do not work to address the issue, the Yesha Human Rights Organization will proceed by informing locals of their real rights. “I will give farmers and other residents who have suffered damages over the past week, and before that, a document clarifying their real rights, which was compiled by Yesha Human Rights Organization attorney Nadav Haetzni,” she told Arutz Sheva.

“It cannot be that citizens of Judea and Samaria… will not be allowed to defend their property,” she continued. “How can one imagine a situation in which hundreds of Arab rioters could enter a town and do what they like with the houses, the cars and property, with residents unable to defend their property?”

“The IDF’s order is simply illegal,” she concluded.