The Ministerial Committee on Legislation on Sunday approved a bill authorizing the government to order the expulsion of the families of West Bank terrorists.
The bill, sponsored by Habayit Hayehudi leader Naftali Bennett and fellow party member MK Moti Yogev, will be presented to the Knesset for a vote in the coming weeks despite vocal objections made by officials at the Attorney General's Office.
The expulsion of terrorists' families "is a proven deterrent that has the power to decrease terrorist attacks and save lives," the bill's abstract reads.
The legislative proposal seeks to give the GOC Central Command the authority to relocate a terrorist's family from their place of residence in the West Bank to another area within a week of the attack, so as to increase deterrence.
"Maintaining deterrence is the cornerstone of Israeli security as a means of saving lives and preserving law and order," Bennett said Sunday. "The steps outlined in this bill have a proven deterrent effect and can save lives."
"Terrorists no longer fear us," he continued. "Jews are being murdered because carrying out terrorist attacks has become a lucrative business [for Palestinians] and judiciary overreach is crippling the defense establishment."
"I'm glad that we were able to pass this bill despite the objections of [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu's legal advisers. We have to restore deterrence so that Israel can win again. We cannot allow for Jewish blood to be spilled in vain," Bennett said.
The bill passed against the backdrop of a heated cabinet meeting Sunday, in which Likud and Habayit Hayehudi ministers clashed over the government's current counterterrorism policy.
In the meeting, Netanyahu asked the ministers to approve his decision to keep the defense portfolio, a move he decided on after Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Lieberman resigned the position last month.
Bennett, who has made no secret of his desire to be appointed defense minister in Lieberman's place, and fellow Habayit Hayehudi party member Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked opposed the move, saying there was an "undeniable link" between the large number of ministerial positions manned solely by Netanyahu and the recent security escalation.
Besides the premiership, Netanyahu currently holds the defense, foreign affairs, health, immigrant absorption and religious affairs portfolios, although he has pledged to name foreign affairs and immigrant absorption ministers in the coming weeks.
As the meeting began, Shaked said she believed Israel "needs a full-time defense minister," to which Bennett added, "We've lost deterrence. We have to free the IDF from the shackles of fake morality and fake legalities. Israelis are getting killed because terrorists are no longer afraid."
Netanyahu was enraged by these comments.
"We heard your ultimatum," he said, referring to Bennett's threat, which was later rescinded – that he be named defense minister following Lieberman's resignation or Habayit Hayehudi would exit the coalition and trigger snap elections.
"This is a futile political move meant to stop the appointment. There have been plenty of prime ministers who were also defense ministers," he said.
"I wish you fought the enemy as forcibly as you fight us," Bennett retorted, at which point Environmental Protection Minister Zeev Elkin (Likud) intervened, saying that "according to the coalition agreements, Habayit Hayehudi has no claim to the defense portfolio."
Elkin further said that Shaked, as justice minister, was responsible for any legal limitations placed on the military's counterterrorism operations.
Labor, Social Affairs and Social Services Minister Haim Katz (Likud) echoed his party's sentiment, adding that it was Shaked's office that was responsible for any delays in razing terrorists' home.
Addressing Bennett, he noted that "there are many precedents for the prime minister also holding the defense portfolio. There is no need to merge a vote on his [Netanyahu's] appointment with other issues."
The clash in the cabinet took place a few hours after several ministers, including Bennett, Shaked, Economy and Industry Minister Eli Cohen (Kulanu) and Tourism Minister Yariv Levin (Likud), attended a demonstration by residents of Judea and Samaria outside the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem, protesting the government's counterterrorism policy.
The Likud issued a statement saying, "Bennett began his morning demonstrating against the very government of which he is a member, then continued to stage a childish horror show at the cabinet meeting in a desperate attempt to get the defense portfolio."
"Israel's security transcends politics and the defense portfolio is more than just a job Bennett can arrange for himself," the statement said.
