Defense Minister Israel Katz will propose at the upcoming Cabinet meeting that houses of terrorists who injured Israelis be demolished, unlike the current situation where only homes of terrorists who killed Israelis are destroyed. The proposal follows six months of comprehensive staff work by the National Security Council (NSC).
Katz announced this morning that he signed a professional opinion over the weekend, which will be submitted for discussion at the Security Cabinet, expected to approve the decision.
About six months ago, a special discussion was held in the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, led by MK Yuli Edelstein (Likud) at the initiative of MK Amit Halevi, along with the B'Tsalmo organization, regarding the demolition of homes of terrorists who only injured, not just those who succeeded in killing their victims.
During the discussion, committee members, including Chairman Edelstein, demanded that all terrorists' homes be demolished, even those who didn't manage to carry out their plans fully. It became clear that the NSC has been working for a long time on the staff work on the issue, waiting to obtain a professional opinion from security officials.
Arutz Sheva - Israel National News has learned that the NSC's opinion states that houses of terrorists who injured can also be demolished in certain cases, including the severity of the injury, the severity of the attack, and more. Each demolition order is subject to the corps commander's authority and political approval.
MK Yitzhak Kreuzer stated: "The Defense Minister's decision to approve the demolition of homes of terrorists who injured Israelis is a significant step in the fight against terrorism. A clear and unequivocal message must be sent: any harm to Israeli citizens - injury or murder - will be met with a hard and uncompromising hand. Terrorists and their families should know that terrorism will bring them a heavy price. I support the Defense Minister's decision and call for continuing in this direction as part of a comprehensive policy to protect the safety of Israeli citizens."
Shai Glick, CEO of B'Tsalmo, said: "We thank Defense Minister Israel Katz for understanding that deterrence must be with an iron hand, and any terrorist who goes out to harm must know their home will be destroyed even if they 'only' injured. We will continue to act and ensure that every terrorist's home is destroyed to the foundations, regardless of the attack outcome. Now with the change of the Defense Minister, a clear policy change must be made, where every terrorist will know they will pay a very high price. One of the clear tools of war is the complete demolition of terrorists' homes immediately after the attack."
Alon Schwartzer, Head of Research and Policy Department at the Im Tirtzu Movement, added: "We have been working for several years to expose to the public the ongoing procrastination in demolishing terrorists' homes and as a result, the harm to deterrence. The change in policy by the Defense Minister is an important decision, and we now expect the Cabinet to approve the decision and act without delay to demolish the terrorists' homes."