The Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, headed by MK Yuli Edelstein (Likud), on Thursday approved for its first reading an additional section to be included in the law on the entry of illegals, terror operatives, and their family members into Israel.
The bill was put forward by MK Amit Halevi (Likud).
The proposed bill contains two main sections: The first section proposes to declare an outright ban on providing a permit to remain or settle in Israel, to terrorists and their family members. The second section proposes increasing punishment for specific crimes of remaining in Israel illegally, if committed by residents of the Palestinian Authority or who entered through Judea and Samaria.
Arabs who wish to cross into pre-1967 Israel from Judea and Samaria but do not have Israeli citizenship must apply for permits.
The Committee on Thursday approved the preparation of the first part of the bill, following the approval of its second part last week. Included in the bill are both terror operatives, those convicted of terror activities, and the relatives of such people.
This is not the first time steps have been attempted against relatives of terrorists.
In August 2023, then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (Likud) instructed the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) Major-General Ghassan Alian to prevent family members of the Mount Hebron terrorists from entering pre-1967 Israel.
In the order, Gallant instructed that Alian revoke the entry permits of the family members of the terrorists, explaining, "The defense system is using all means available to it to foil terror in Judea and Samaria. Under my instruction, since the start of the year, thousands of Palestinians whose relatives carried out and guided acts of terror against the security forces and civilians have been refused entry. Alongside the operational efforts, we will carry out justice and exact a heavy price from the terrorists, those who send them, and their supportive environments."
In October 2022, following a security assessment by Defense Minister Benny Gantz (National Unity), it was decided to revoke the entry permits of 164 relatives of terrorists in the city of Shechem (Nablus) and its environs.
Earlier that month, then-Minister of the Interior Ayelet Shaked contacted then-Public Security Minister Omer Barlev and informed him that the status in Israel of relatives of the terrorist who carried out the attack in the Armon Hanatziv neighborhood of Jerusalem had been revoked, demanding that Barlev evict the family by force immediately, and allocate all the necessary forces for this.
In May 2022, in response to a wave of terrorist attacks which left 19 people dead, Israel prevented the entry of 1,100 Palestinian Arabs from Judea and Samaria whose family members carried out an attack on Israeli citizens and security forces.
A senior security source told military reporters, "We will not allow the families of terrorists who have chosen the path of terrorism to enter the State of Israel for employment and trade. Every Palestinian who thinks of choosing the path of terrorism knows that the attack he is committing will cause great harm to his family."