Gov’t Considering Deporting Families of Terrorists to Gaza

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett reportedly told his government on Sunday to look into the option of demolishing the homes of Arab-Israeli terrorists and deporting families of terrorists to Gaza.

Justice Minister Gideon Sa’ar recommended demolishing the homes of Arab-Israeli terrorists during a Security Cabinet meeting on Sunday.

Sa’ar also proposed deporting the families of terrorists from Yehudah and Shomron to the Gaza Strip, Army Radio reported.

Members of the Cabinet expressed opposition to the recommendation that Sa’ar claims is “necessary.”

Finance Minister Avigdor Liberman told Army Radio on Monday that there was “no doubt” that his Yisrael Beytenu party supports deporting Palestinians and demolishing homes.

“In our eyes, they need to be deported,” he said. “I still remember when we deported people to Lebanon. I don’t know if it’s realistic. There needs to also be a vision. Not everything is legislation.”

Bills to deport the families of Palestinian terrorists have been considered but never approved. One such bill was proposed in 2018 by the Jewish Home Party – headed by Bennett at the time – and passed a preliminary reading. However, the bill failed to progress due to elections being called shortly after.

In December, a similar bill was proposed by the Likud party but fell in Knesset as Yamina and New Hope opposed it.