More than 100 Hamas terrorists who invaded Israel and took part in the massacre on Oct. 7 are eligible to be represented by private attorneys funded by the state, the Israel Hayom daily reported on Monday.
According to the report, the Jewish state’s court system maintains that a temporary order passed in the wake of the war with Hamas requires judges to appoint captured terrorists lawyers at Jerusalem’s expense.
The temporary change to the “Law on holding hearings using visual tools with the participation of prisoners and detainees,” which was first passed in late 2023 with the government’s support, states that court hearings “will be held in the presence of the detainee’s attorney, and if he is not represented, the court will appoint a representative for him.”
The order was passed to allow terrorist suspects to appear by video link, due to the dangers involved in transporting them to courts.
Coalition lawmakers in recent months have advanced legislation that would deny terrorists who took part in the Oct. 7 attacks the right to a public defender. However, due to the court’s interpretation of the earlier emergency order, Israeli taxpayers will be footing their legal bills.
The Israel Hayom report noted that while the emergency order is up for renewal in the coming weeks, the section that courts have utilized to grant terrorism suspects free legal aid is not expected to be changed.
Earlier this month, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Justice Minister Yair Levin released a new draft order for public comment without changing the controversial text.
During a debate in the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee on Monday, bereaved parents urged lawmakers to take action.
“It’s a shame for the people of Israel that this discussion is being held over our children’s blood,” said Itzik Bunzel, whose son Sgt. Amit Buntzel was killed in action in Gaza on Dec. 6. “There’s no way that the murdered victims will fund the Nukhba terrorists’ legal representation.”
“This isn’t stupidity; this is deliberate evil against our people,” added Galia Hoshen, whose daughter Hadar was brutally murdered by Hamas terrorists at the Supernova festival on Oct. 7. “My daughter was murdered and I have to fund legal representation for those who murdered her?”
After it became known that the Israel Courts Administration had asked the government to fund terrorists’ legal defense, Levin and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich condemned the request, with the latter ordering Budgets Commissioner Yogev Gardos to freeze the funds.
Construction and Housing Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf, who also leads the United Torah Judaism Party, tweeted on Thursday, “Whoever has mercy on the cruel will ultimately be cruel to the merciful.”
Some 3,000 terrorists, from Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Fatah and unaffiliated “civilians,” infiltrated the Jewish state on Oct. 7. The security forces killed approximately a thousand of the terrorists and captured many others.
Some 1,200 people, primarily Israeli Jews, were murdered on Oct. 7, with thousands more wounded and roughly 250 others taken captive into the Gaza Strip.
