Adalah: Proposed bill before Israeli parliament that allow courts to sentence 12-year-olds to imprisonment for terror-related convictions must be withdrawn
On 8 July 2024, the Knesset’s Constitution, Law and Justice Committee approved for final readings a proposed amendment to Article 25 of the Israeli Penal Code, allowing courts to sentence children as young as 12 years old to imprisonment, including life sentences, if convicted of certain terror-related offenses. Currently, Israeli law exempts minors under 12 from criminal liability, and those under 14 can only be placed in secure facilities, not in regular adult prisons, regardless of the crime's severity or nature. The amendment would permit courts to sentence minors convicted of aggravated murder or attempted murder in ‘terror-related cases’ until they turn 14, after which they would be transferred to a standard prison.
On 5 June 2024, ahead of a committee hearing, Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel sent a letter to the chair of the Knesset’s Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, the State Attorney, and Israel’s Attorney General opposing the bill. Adalah argued that the amendment removes protections for minors, introduces disproportionate punitive measures, and neglects the rehabilitative potential of young offenders.
CLICK HERE to read the letter [Hebrew]
In the letter, Adalah attorney Hadeel Abu Salih argued that the bill specifically targets Palestinian children—citizens of Israel and residents of occupied East Jerusalem—who are almost exclusively accused of the offenses outlined in the legislation. In contrast, Israeli Jewish children are primarily indicted under criminal laws, rather than the counter-terrorism law, regardless of the nature, severity, or motivation behind their alleged actions. Adalah asserts that the amendment would entrench a discriminatory system that disadvantages Palestinians.
Adalah further emphasized that by allowing courts to sentence minors as young as 12 years old to imprisonment, including life sentences, the proposed amendment disregards the potential for individual reform, particularly for children, who possess a greater capacity for rehabilitation. Instead, it promotes a punitive approach. Adalah also argued that sentencing 12-year-olds to imprisonment in adult prisons creates significant challenges, as it neglects their developmental needs during crucial stages of cognitive and emotional growth.
Following Adalah’s report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child during its review of Israel, the committee flagged this bill, noted that it violates the International Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Israel is a signatory, and called on Israel to “withdraw bills introduced to amend the Youth Law to allow for the imprisonment of children over 12 years of age who are convicted of an act of terror and to exclude children.”
Finally, Adalah stressed that the amendment marks a significant departure from the current status quo, where minors, due to their inherent vulnerability, are placed in juvenile facilities until they turn 20. The proposed amendment exceptionalizes Palestinian children, shifting toward a harsher and more punitive approach. Adalah thus demanded that the bill be withdrawn.
