Netanyahu and Mandelblit
Netanyahu and MandelblitYonatan Sindel/Flash90

Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit has given his limited approval for the government to transfer the families of terrorists.

Lawmakers first discussed sending the families to Gaza or Syria, but Mandelblit argued that such a move would violate international law and the Palestinians could use it to sue Israel in the International Court of Justice in the Hague.

Ynet reports that the Attorney General will tell Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu that families can be only sent from one city to another within Judea and Samaria, and that it must first be proven that they had prior knowledge of their relative's plan to carry out an attack.

He reached his conclusion based on a Supreme Court ruling that the Fourth Geneva Convention permits a military commander in an occupied territory to move individuals for security reasons, though he cannot send them out of the territory for which he is responsible.

When the court made its decision, it applies to both Judea and Samaria, as well as Gaza. Now, however, Israel has no presence in Gaza and it can no longer be used as a destination.

Yesterday, Netanyahu told the Cabinet, "I expect the Attorney General’s answer to my appeal regarding the expulsion of families of terrorists to Gaza. At the same time, we are considering transferring residences inside Judea and Samaria."

Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz (Likud), who submitted a bill on deporting terrorists' families to Gaza and/or Syria, has claimed that Mandelblit's stance is only "spin aimed at fending off the pressure by MKs to promote the legislation." However, he said that there is still a value in moving the families within Judea and Samaria because "every expulsion and exclusion has a deterrent value."