Knesset Passes Law Stripping Parents of Convicted Palestinian Minors of Welfare Benefits

Today, 19 November 2024, the Israeli Knesset passed a law targeting the rights of children and their families, revoking welfare benefits from parents of minors convicted of security offenses deemed terrorist acts by the courts. Under this amendment, parents will lose access to benefits such as child allowances, education grants, alimony payments, and additional income support during their child’s incarceration.

National Insurance Law (Amendment 251), available [in Hebrew] here

Ahead of the law’s passage, Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel – sent a letter on 28 October 2024 to Israel’s Attorney General, the Legal Advisor to the Knesset, and other relevant officials, demanding that the legislation be withdrawn due to its unconstitutionality. In the letter, Adalah Attorney Lubna Tuma argued that the amendment creates a legal distinction between minors designated as ‘security prisoners’ and ‘criminal prisoners.’ In practice, this creates a distinction on the basis of nationality, as Palestinian children are almost exclusively the ones convicted of security offenses, which amounts to unlawful discrimination.  

    CLICK HERE to read Adalah’s letter [Hebrew]

The amendment was introduced in response to a 2021 Israeli Supreme Court decision that struck down a similar law following a petition filed by Adalah and other human rights organizations. The earlier law, from 2015, denied social welfare benefits to parents of Palestinian minors convicted of security-related offenses or offenses committed on the basis of “nationalist motives.” In its decision—a rare instance in which the Supreme Court overturned a law that discriminates against Palestinians—the Court held that the law was unconstitutional as it violated the principle of equality. 

The new law mirrors the 2015 law but removes the “nationalist motives” requirement, instead requiring courts to determine whether the offense constitutes an "act of terrorism." In its letter, Adalah argued that this is a transparent attempt to circumvent the 2021 Supreme Court decision without addressing the constitutional flaws already identified by the Court.

Adalah further noted that the denial of welfare benefits amounts to collective punishment and violates fundamental rights. During discussions in the Knesset’s Labor and Welfare Committee, proponents of the amendment claimed it was primarily “declarative,” intended to send a message against terrorism. However, Adalah pointed out that the true intent is punitive and illegal, as underscored by several statements made throughout the legislative process, including one by the committee chair, who remarked: “Child allowances are not part of the punishment, except in cases of terrorism. Terrorism is war.” Such statements expose the true aim of the legislation: to impose punitive measures under the pretext of counterterrorism by denying welfare benefits. The discussions and comments throughout the legislative process also underscored that Palestinian minors are not viewed as children deserving of rehabilitation and care by Israeli lawmakers, but rather as individuals deserving of punishment and requiring deterrence.

In its 2024 concluding observations, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, which reviewed Israel's implementation of the International Convention on the Rights of the Child—an agreement Israel has ratified—called on Israel to “revoke the proposed bill to amend the National Insurance Law” and to ensure children’s "access to food, social security, housing, family benefits, and child allowances."

Adalah commented:

“Through this legislation, intended to circumvent the Supreme Court’s prior ruling, the Knesset is not only imposing harsher penalties but also weaponizing welfare benefits against Palestinians—attacking fundamental rights that have no connection to criminal law. By introducing this measure, which amounts to collective punishment aimed exclusively at Palestinians, the law clearly seeks to deepen Israel's two-tiered legal system. In this system, Palestinian minors are prosecuted under the guise of "security" and "terrorism" offenses, with fewer protections and harsher punishments, while Jewish Israelis are subjected to a separate legal framework based on criminal charges.”