The High Court of Justice on Sunday rejected an appeal by the family of a terrorist who murdered an Israeli soldier against a military order to raze their home.
The petition was filed by the family of Islam Naji, who dropped a marble slab on IDF Staff Sgt. Ronen Lubarsky during an arrest raid in May in the al-Amari refugee camp near Ramallah. Lubarsky was killed in the attack.
In their petition, the family argued that some of the inhabitants of the four-story home did not know about Naji's intentions to cause harm and therefore demolishing the structure would constitute "disproportionate" punitive action.
The court rejected the appeal and gave the family until Dec. 12 to vacate the premises.
The Naji family has known ties to terrorist organizations, and four of Islam Naji's brothers are serving life sentences for their involvement in lethal terrorist attacks.
The family home was razed once before, in 1996, after one of the Naji brothers was convicted of murdering Palestinians suspected of collaborating with Israel.
The home was rebuilt in violation of a military order barring construction on the lot.
Vladimir Lubarsky, father of the murdered soldier, lauded the court's decision, saying, "Organizations that want to delegitimize [Israel] repeatedly try to strengthen terrorists. The High Court's ruling is a victory for sanity. "
Matan Peleg, head of the right-wing Im Tirtzu organization, said, "The High Court shouldn't even have heard the petition in the first place. A situation in which foreign-funded legal aid groups defend dozens of terrorists a year with the aim of undermining Israel's deterrence policy is very dangerous."
