- Israel will now be able to take part in the international
war on terror financing, in addition to combating local terror funding
under a law approved by the Knesset on Wednesday.
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- Under the law, paying pensions or compensation to families
of suicide bombers and others involved in terrorist activities will be
prohibited.
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- The Prohibition on Terror Financing Law was approved
in a 62-6 vote, with opposition coming only from Arab MKs.
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- The government initiated the legislation as part of the
global anti-terror effort, and similar legislation exists in other countries.
The passage of the law was necessary to enable international cooperation
in blocking terror financing.
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- The law enables the government to confiscate property
and infringe on rights after a ministerial committee declares a person
or organization as terrorist. The law also applies to Israelis abroad who
are engaged in terrorist activities.
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- Under the international cooperation clauses, Israel will
be able to confiscate property in Israel of persons or organizations declared
terrorist by another country, even if the terror is not directed against
Israel.
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- A US attorney, who has brought claims against terror
financing in the US for clients who were injured in attacks in Israel,
said the law would make Israel consistent with the rest of the Western
world.
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- Gary Osen, based on New Jersey, said Israel's laws were
behind the standard that was enacted in the US following the September
11 attacks. He said the changes would facilitate a claims against banks
in the US that transferred money for attacks carried out in Israel.
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- Osen filed the $875 million Linde vs. Arab Bank suit,
representing six families who sued based on the laundering of Saudi aid
to terrorists in the territories.
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- Law Committee chairman Michael Eitan (Likud), who prepared
the bill for approval, said that one of the ways to fight terror is by
fighting its financing. "Terror hides out among people, and looks
for a shelter within organizations, and uses innocent people and their
institutions as a means to carry out its activities," he said.
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- Eitan said that in drafting the law, the Law Committee
aimed to reach a balance between paralyzing terror, but on the other hand
not to adopt its tactic of harming innocent people.
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- "We worked to find an efficient tool to save the
lives of both Jews and Arabs, because terror strikes indiscriminately.
If we dry up terror we will save lives," he said.
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- According to the law, a person who gives aid to families
of people who carry out acts of terror will be classified as a terror financier,
and face punishment of up to 10 years in jail.
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- Persons who fail to report to the transfer money they
suspect may be for terror can be prosecuted and face up to one year imprisonment.
The provision applies to workers in financial institutions and insurance
companies. The law is to take effect in six months.
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- Balad MK Wasal Taha said he could not support the bill
because it does not define terror, noting for instance that Palestinian
resistance to Israeli occupation is not terror.
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- He also said the bill raises suspicions against humanitarian
organizations that for instance assist the Red Crescent in the territories
or other places in the world.
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- "Every suspect's family becomes a suspect and their
businesses do as well. Therefore the law is a harsh damage against human
rights and civil rights," he said.
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- MK Ahmed Tibi (Hadash-Arab Movement for Change) said
the problem with the war on terror its byproduct of harming human rights.
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