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Knesset passes law banning Breaking the Silence from entering Israeli schools

Jewish Home Party co-authors of the bill, Education Minister Naftali Bennett and Shuli Mualem-Refaeli, said the law would also apply to institutions that attempt to delegitimize Israel abroad.

Breaking the Silence coverphoto on Facebook, uploaded June 2018. Source: screenshot.
Breaking the Silence coverphoto on Facebook, uploaded June 2018. Source: screenshot.

A law banning groups grounded in the criticism of Israel Defense Forces’ soldiers and the operations of the IDF passed on Tuesday in the Knesset.

Education Minister Naftali Bennett and Shuli Mualem-Refaeli, the Jewish Home Party co-authors of the bill, said the law would also apply to institutions that attempt to delegitimize Israel abroad.

The bill passed its second and third reading by a vote of 43-24.

It was specifically aimed at Breaking the Silence, an organization that questions the actions and morality of the IDF, particularly in Judea and Samaria. The organization has come under criticism not just for attacking the actions of Israeli soldiers, but the Jewish state itself around the world, and for publicizing stories of the abuse of Palestinians that were later proven to be false.

“Anyone who wanders around the world attacking IDF soldiers will not enter a school,” Bennett affirmed in a statement.

Hamas said it is willing to move forward with second stage of the U.S.-brokered framework, calling on Washington to exert pressure on Jerusalem.
“We can and know how to stand our ground—even against our best friends when necessary,” said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“I’m happy that the University of Washington, for literally the first time ever, has made the correct decision to not have an America-hating communist spread his hatred and terrible ideology to young people at our taxpayer funded universities,” Republican state representative Travis Couture told JNS.
The student plaintiffs are “very, very happy” with the settlement, and the college’s statement is an “amazing change,” Lori Lowenthal Marcus of the Deborah Project told JNS.