Defense Minister Ehud Barak orders the demolition of the two East Jerusalem terrorist's homes following the announcement on Thursday by Attorney General Menachem Mazuz, who stated that the razing of terrorist homes is permissible by law.
Mazuz stated that the High Court of Justice has clearly shown that there is no constitutional barrier to demolishing the home of a terrorist, however he added that there could be severe legal consequences in both the local and international arena which should be considered.
While Barak's order has officially been lodged, a security source on Friday said that the decision is not likely to be implemented immediately, but is instead only the first stage in a process leading up to the actual demolition.
In recent days many people have advocated a less durastic option which involved sealing off the home of the East Jerusalem terrorist in order to avoid damaging the homes of the two other families who live in the same building.
In response to Barak's order, human rights group B'Tselem called on Mazuz "not to sacrifice justice and morality on the altar of revenge." The group said that security experts had in the past concluded that the demolition of houses does not deter potential terrorists from carrying out attacks. B'Tselem maintains that these demolitions actually serve to fuel terror rather than eradicate it.
Prior to the decision, the Shin Bet security service and the Military Advocate General submitted their legal opinion on the matter, as did Barak and Olmert who backed the demolition of the terrorists' homes.
Earlier Thursday, Olmert reiterated his call to demolish the East Jerusalem home of Wednesday's terror attack perpetrator.
"This is an attack which came from within Israel, into Israel. It creates a string of scenarios we never thought we would have to deal with in the past. We have invested thousands in the construction of a security fence. While it has been very effective, it turns out that a fence cannot give us the answer to the problem of terror which comes from our side," he said.
Olmert also said that the social benefits of the terrorist's family should be taken away in light of the attack.
"I think we need to be tougher in some of the means we use against perpetrators of terror," Olmert told the conference. "If we have to destroy houses, then we must do so, and if we have to stop their social benefits, then we must do so. There cannot be a case where they massacre us and at the same time they get all the privileges that our society provides," he said. 07/05/08
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