Families of Terror Victims Slam Reappointment of ‘Terror Lawyer’ to Bar Post

Families of terror victims were up in arms Monday after the Israel Bar Association once again appointed far-left attorney Leah Tsemel as the head of the Association’s Military Courts Committee. The committee examines the activities of military courts, and provides expert opinion on the legality of actions taken by the courts in the wake of complaints that are filed.

Tsemel is a veteran attorney who has defended dozens of terrorists in Israeli courts, many of them eventually convicted of killing Jews in terror attacks. Among others, Tsemel defended the terrorists who committed the infamous “Ramallah lynch” in 2000, in which IDF soldiers Vadim Norzhich (Nurzhitz) and Yosef “Yossi” Avrahami were brutally murdered and thown out of the window of the al-Bireh police station.

Elections for the post are held every four years, and Tsemel, who has had the job for eight years already, ran unopposed.

The Choose Life Foundation, which represents families who lost loved ones in terror attacks, said in a statement that “Tsemel has defended the worst terrorists, including the Ramallah lynch mob, Hamas terrorists who were deported to Lebanon, PLO supporters and former MK Basel Ghattas, who smuggled phones to terrorists in Israeli prisons. There is no limit to the irresponsibility ot the the Israel Bar. This is a slap in the face to the thousands of Israelis who have been murdered over the years by the lowest terrorists defended by Tsemel.”

Attorney Asher Axelrod, head of the Bar’s Yerushalayim District committee, told Yisrael Hayom that Tsemel was actually an excellent choice for the post. “She has eight years experience and has had a great deal of success. She checks the conditions of imprisonment in military lockups and represents complainants at Ofer prison, where many security prisoners are held. She has excellent relations with attorneys, prosecutors, and judges in the military courts,” Axelrod added.