The Knesset passed a new law criminalising the denial, minimisation, or celebration of Palestinian resistance’s infiltration of Israel on 7 October 2023.
The legislation, proposed by Yisrael Beiteinu MK, Oded Forer, was approved in its final reading yesterday by a vote of 16-0, reported the Times of Israel.
Modeled on Israel’s 1986 Holocaust denial law, it states that any individual who verbally or in writing denies the events on 7 October, intending to defend or show sympathy for Hamas or its affiliates, could face up to five years in prison.
“The State of Israel today said in a loud and clear voice: The denial of the atrocities of October 7 will not pass in silence, neither in the Knesset, nor on the street, nor in the world,” Forer said after the vote. “Anyone who tries to deny Hamas’s heinous crimes is an active partner in spreading lies and incitement that undermine the foundations of our society.”
He added: “In an era where lies are spread at the speed of light on social media and in the international arena, this law is a bulwark. Not only for the memory of the murdered and the honour of the survivors, but for the sake of future generations who will remember the truth, and not the lies that try to obscure it.”
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However, the law has sparked debate over its implications for free speech and its potential interference in legal proceedings.
Israeli Attorney General, Gali Baharav-Miara, previously opposed the legislation, warning that prosecutions under the law might complicate ongoing criminal cases against Hamas members. She argued that requiring the “disclosure of evidence will disrupt” the ongoing legal process.
Baharav-Miara also noted that Holocaust denial laws, which inspired this legislation, were enacted long after World War II, following the establishment of clear historical records, whereas the 7 October law was proposed just months after the event.
Human rights advocates have also voiced concerns, particularly regarding its impact on freedom of expression. Following the outbreak of the Gaza war, numerous Palestinian citizens of Israel were investigated or indicted for incitement or alleged ties to terrorist groups, raising fears that the law could disproportionately target minority communities.
“The criminalisation of expression should be reserved for extreme circumstances posing a real and imminent threat, such as incitement to violence,” said Gil Gan-Mor of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel. He described denial of the massacre as deeply troubling but argued it does not meet the threshold for criminalisation.
Gan-Mor further criticised the law’s vague wording, which he said risks unpredictable enforcement and could create “a chilling effect on freedom of expression.”
Israel and its allies have been found to have fabricated “facts” about 7 October, including spreading an assertion that babies were beheaded on that day. A story that was found to be false. While reports that women had been raped by members of the palestinian resistance have – to date, not been backed by evidence.
Israel has killed more than 46,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, in Gaza since the 7 October, 2023 Hamas attacks that claimed 1,200 lives and another 250 were taken as hostages. Earlier this month, Israeli authorities admitted that no allegations of rape or sexual assault have been filed from 7 October despite extensive investigations.
In spite of this, Israel continues to peddle these allegations as truth in its effort to exonerate itself as it faces accusations that it carried out a genocide in Gaza following october 2023.
Some 1,200 lives were lost on 7 October and another 250 were taken captive in Gaza. However, since then it has been revealed by Haaretz that helicopters and tanks of the Israeli army had, in fact, killed many of the 1,139 soldiers and civilians claimed by Israel to have been killed by the Palestinian resistance.
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