Knesset approves minimum jail sentences for rock-throwing

(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org)-In a vote of 51-17, the Israeli Knesset on Monday approved a bill designed to toughen penalties for rock-throwing.

The bill, designed as a temporary provision in its current format, passed its second and third reading on Monday, finalizing it into law. Its temporary nature, however, will require Knesset members to vote on it again in three years in order to decide whether to renew it.

The new law, part of efforts to quell a recent wave of Palestinian violence, imposes a minimum prison sentence of three years on anyone convicted of rock-throwing, stabbing, or using other dangerous weapons, with the new law adding rocks to the existing list of dangerous weapons.

Under the law, the minimum prison sentence cannot be less than one-fifth of the maximum sentence. But the court is given leeway to use its discretion in cases involving "special circumstances."