What to look out for as the Israeli Knesset returns from its recess

Against the backdrop of Israel’s multi-front war, including its ongoing genocidal assault on Gaza, the Israeli legislature (Knesset) continues pushing forward racist, discriminatory and anti-democratic legislation aimed at stripping Palestinians of their rights. In advance of the Knesset’s return on 27 October 2024 after a three-month recess, Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel is publishing a briefing paper outlining eight key bills that are currently in advanced stages of the legislative process. These bills threaten to further institutionalize racial discrimination and political persecution of Palestinians and entrench Israeli control over them. Some of these bills have already garnered support from coalition and opposition parties alike, in a disturbing trend of racist and supremacist ideas becoming normalized within the Israeli political consensus in the atmosphere of intense hatred toward Palestinians that has prevailed in mainstream Israeli discourse since 7 October. 

CLICK HERE to read the briefing paper

The position paper provides details on the pending bills, including their current stage in the legislative process, accompanied by Adalah’s legal analysis. It also includes links to position papers submitted by Adalah to various legislative committees and Israeli officials to express its legal objections to the proposed legislation.

This wave of laws began with the swearing-in of the current government, which explicitly pledged in its coalition agreements and guiding principles to deny Palestinians the right to self-determination and to advance Jewish supremacy and racial segregation in all areas under Israel’s control. The coalition agreements, signed before the formation of Israel’s 37th government in December 2022, outlined the most extensive list of specific policy measures and legislative initiatives ever included in such documents. At the time, Adalah warned of the far-reaching harmful consequences of these agreements for Palestinians in both Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT). Since then, Adalah has closely monitored the implementation of the agreements, including the advancement of legislation that joins over 70 existing discriminatory laws enacted over the years, as documented by Adalah.

CLICK HERE to read Adalah’s briefing paper on the guiding principles and coalition agreements  of the current government 

CLICK HERE to explore Adalah’s discriminatory laws database 

Below, we identify some key features of the eight bills detailed in the new briefing paper, including in the following areas:

• Entrenching Political Persecution of Palestinians: Proposed laws aim to institutionalize the political persecution of Palestinians – citizens of Israel and residents of occupied East Jerusalem – under the pretext of counter-terrorism, allowing for even greater criminalization of legitimate political speech, including opposition to the ongoing assault on Gaza. They includes a bill that amends articles in the Counter-Terrorism Law that criminalize speech, particularly “incitement to terrorism,” which has been used over the past year by the Israeli authorities to crack down on the speech of Palestinian citizens of Israel and residents of occupied East Jerusalem. The amendment would give even greater scope for prosecution.

• Expanding the Legal Grounds for Deporting Palestinians: Another bill proposes deporting the families of “terrorist operatives” – not only those of convicted individuals but also families of persons detained without charges or trial based on secret evidence, whether under administrative detention or as “unlawful combatants”. This bill constitutes an extreme form of collective punishment by forcibly expelling Palestinians from their homeland based on the alleged actions of family members. If passed, it will join two existing laws that already allow for the deportation of Palestinians and the revocation of their citizenship or residency status.

• Expansion of Two-Tiered Legal System, One for Israeli Jews and the Other for Palestinians: These bills will intensify the oppressive two-tiered legal system, one set of laws for Jewish-Israelis and another, with inferior rights, for Palestinians subjected to Israeli civilian law. They include legislation that seeks to treat Palestinian children – both citizens of Israel and residents of East Jerusalem – as adults in criminal legal proceedings in cases deemed by Israel to be “terrorism-related”. Another bill seeks to strip the parents of convicted Palestinian minors of welfare benefits, aiming to circumvent a 2021 Supreme Court decision related to a petition filed by Adalah challenging similar legislation.

• Revival of Draconian Military Rule Practices against Palestinian Citizens: Other laws are intended to entrench the two-tiered law enforcement system by reintroducing oppressive measures reminiscent of those pursued under military rule that was imposed exclusively on Palestinian citizens of Israel from 1948 to 1966 to consolidate the state’s control over them. They include provisions for administrative restriction orders, introduced under the pretext of “fighting crime in Arab society,” which allow for severe limitations on movement, house arrest, intrusive police searches, driving restrictions, internet access limitations, and travel bans.

Additionally, the paper details the Knesset’s attempts to cripple UNRWA assistance to Palestinian refugees. The bills targeting UNRWA constitute a concerted effort to block essential aid and support from reaching Palestinian refugees throughout the OPT, particularly egregious in Gaza due to Israel’s ongoing genocidal assault and the resulting humanitarian catastrophe.