High Court freezes demolition of terrorists' homes

Elkin: "High Court justices need to understand that we our in the midst of a war against terror."

By JPOST.COM STAFF, MOR SHIMONI/MAARIV
Updated: OCTOBER 23, 2015 02:32
IDF bulldozer (photo credit: REUTERS)
IDF bulldozer
(photo credit: REUTERS)
The High Court of Justice issued an injunction Thursday temporarily freezing the demolition of the homes belonging to the families of the terrorists who murdered Malahi Rosenfeld, Danny Gonen and Eitam and Naama Henkin.
The temporary injunction was issued in response to a petition filed to the High Court to prevent the demolitions, scheduled for Thursday.
The injunction is in effect pending the court’s hearing of the state’s response to the petition.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that destroying the homes of the families of terrorists is one of the most effective tools to deter suicide attackers and he hopes that the High Court of Justice will come to a decision on the matter swiftly.
“Our problem is the disconnect between the act and the consequences of the act,” Netanyahu said. “Therefore, we want to minimize the time and I hope that the the High Court will make its decision as quickly as possible.”
He added that “if they decide, and usually they decide yes to demolish, it’s better to do so close to the incident, within a number of days rather than weeks or months.”
Likud Minister of Immigrant Absorption Ze’ev Elkin called on the High Court “not to drag its feet and to immediately hold the discussion on demolishing the terrorists’ homes which were stopped today.”
Elkin argued that “High Court justices as well need to understand that we our in the midst of a war against terrorism and a democracy that doesn’t know how to defend itself cannot be victorious in such a war.”
He said that “preventing the next terrorist attack by destroying terrorists’ homes and creating deterrence is the order of the day and it cannot be that the High Court jams sticks into the spokes of cabinet decisions.”
Last week, the cabinet’s decision to expedite terrorist home demolitions got under way. Security forces arrived at the homes of the terrorist cell that carried out the attack in which the Henkins were killed during the Succot holiday, informing them that their homes would be destroyed in 24 hours. The announcement gave the families the opportunity to appeal to the High Court against the demolition.