A new legislative proposal seeks to toughen the maximum sentences the courts are permitted to impose on terrorists convicted of murder or attempted murder by lifting the maximum restriction in such cases.
Under Israeli law, the crime of attempted murder is punishable by a sentence of up to 20 years in criminal cases and up to 25 years in terrorism-related cases. While the sentencing policy of criminal courts in Israel allows the courts, in exceptionally egregious cases, to extend the maximum penalty under the law and even double it, this does not apply to terrorism cases.
This means that, for example, a terrorist who was convicted of attempted murder could be sentenced to 20 or 25 years in prison, but the court is barred from giving a sentence of 40 years, regardless of the severity of the crime.
The same applies to terrorists convicted of murder, a crime for which the maximum sentence is 30 years. In Israel, a life sentence is 30 years.
Likud MK Amir Ohana, who sponsored the bill as an amendment to Israel's Counterterrorism Law, said Wednesday that the move was inspired by a 2017 attack on Niv Gil Nehemiah, who was critically wounded when he was stabbed multiple times by a Palestinian teenager in a supermarket in the central Israeli city of Yavne.
The terrorist, 19-year old Ismail Ibrahim Ismail Abu Aram from the West Bank town of Yatta, near Hebron, was indicted for attempted murder and if convicted, could face up to 25 years in jail.
The case, Ohana said, "Highlighted the limitations of the Counterterrorism Law, which states that the most serious crimes, such as murder and attempted murder, are punishable by a penalty that is almost identical to the penalty that can be imposed in ordinary criminal cases."
"The war on terror requires more powerful instruments," he continued. "The current situation is absurd, which is why I am promoting this bill. This is an important amendment designed to expand the toolbox available to Israel in the war on terror."
Nehemiah's attorney, Yossi Ezra, welcomed the initiative, saying, "The current situation is absurd and the legislator should rectify it and facilitate a real war on terror."
