An Israeli parliamentary committee is expected to approve a bill next Sunday that would deny the Palestinian Authority the right to petition Israeli courts.
The proposal, which is slated to pass in the Knesset’s Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee, would then be sent to the plenum for the requisite three votes for it to become law.
The bill, which was put forward by the chairman of the committee, Knesset member Simcha Rothman, has the support of lawmakers from the coalition and the opposition.
“While the collation has a majority, this is not just a coalition bill,” Rothman told JNS on Wednesday.
The legislation would prevent the P.A. from submitting petitions to Israel’s High Court of Justice or filing lawsuits in Israeli courts, although it could still be sued in such courts, he said.
“The purpose of the bill is to correct a distortion according to which elements hostile to the State of Israel, including those who work directly and in a declared way to harm its citizens through acts of terrorism, are considered to have the right to stand before the High Court when they come to petition against the policies of the Israeli government,” the bill states.
Rothman cited the P.A.’s ongoing appeal to the Supreme Court regarding a law that allows Israel to compensate victims of terrorism or their families using taxes Jerusalem collects on behalf of the P.A., as a case in point.
It was not immediately clear on Wednesday whether Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara would stymie the bill before it reaches the plenum for any further votes.
Rothman was a key legislator behind last year’s judicial reform plan.
