The Knesset passed two laws on Wednesday aimed at cracking down on Palestinian terrorism.
One allows the state to revoke the permanent residence status of convicted terrorists, and the other allows Israeli police to retain possession of terrorists’ bodies in order to prevent their use in funeral processions involving incitement by and recruitment to terror organizations.
The law, which allows police to condition the release of terrorists’ bodies on the commitment of their families to hold modest funerals instead of mass politicized processions, passed following intense debate in the Knesset.
According to the law, which was drafted with the advice of the Public Security Ministry, Israeli police can withhold the body of Palestinians killed during acts of terrorism in sovereign Israel and all of Jerusalem if there is a credible suspicion that the funeral would lead to further terrorism or pose a security risk.
“The government doesn’t want to hold on to these bodies. As far as we are concerned the bodies of these cursed terrorists will rot. We have no need for them,” Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan said.
The funerals of Arab terrorists are often used as opportunities to hail “martyrs” for the Palestinian cause and to recruit future terrorists.
The other bill allows an interior minister to rescind the permanent residency of noncitizens who obtain that status through dishonesty, of residents of eastern Jerusalem who commit acts of breach of trust against Israel or of noncitizen immigrants living in Israel for less than 10 years who pose a danger to public order.
