TEL AVIV - An Israeli government proposal to demolish homes of Palestinians from Arab East Jerusalem who attack Israelis is legally viable (according to Israeli – not international - law), Israel's attorney-general wrote in a legal opinion.
Menachem Mazuz gave his legal response following a proposal by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Thursday that Israel should destroy the homes of "every terrorist from Jerusalem" after a Palestinian killed three Israelis in a bulldozer rampage.
"In light of repeated rulings over the years by the Supreme Court, it cannot be said that there is a legal objection to using the right to demolish houses within Jerusalem," Mazuz was quoted as saying in excerpts released by the Justice Ministry.
But Mazuz warned that dusting off the practice of house demolitions could draw international condemnation.
"The detailed inspection of the circumstances surrounding each case should be conducted by the Shin Bet and the army in coordination with the Justice Ministry," Mazuz said.
Olmert told an economic conference in the southern port city of Eilat on Thursday that Israel should "be tougher … If we have to destroy houses, then we must do so."
Israel abandoned the demolitions of homes of Palestinians involved in attacks against its citizens after human rights groups challenged the practice in Israel's Supreme Court and internationally.
Defence and legal officials met on Thursday to discuss the issue. Some 20 people live in the attacker's family home and relatives said they had no prior knowledge of his intentions.
Israel annexed Arab East Jerusalem in the 1967 war it started, in a move condemned by international law and UN resolutions state that Israel must leave it.
Palestinians want East Jerusalem back to become the capital of their future independent state.
Observers say punishing the family and relatives of perpetrators of such acts mounts to “collective punishment” and “state terrorism”.
One critic, wishing not to be named, noted “if Israel applied the same law to itself, there would be very few houses erect in the whole of Israel”.
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