Israel’s parliament has passed the first reading of a “sexual terrorism” bill providing for increased penalties for “nationalistic” sexual crimes committed by Arabs against Jewish women.
The measure has been condemned by Arab political leaders and Israelis working to support victims of sex crimes.
The bipartisan bill, which passed by 39 votes to seven in the Israeli parliament, was sponsored by right-wing and religious lawmakers but also gained support from some members of the opposition.
“Every day there are reports of women being sexually harassed on the basis of their religious identity. The phenomenon has reached a point that in different areas of the country – in the north, south, and even in Tel Aviv – women are afraid to do sports or go out alone in the evening hours,” the explanation of the bill read.
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The bill makes terrorist, nationalist or racist motivations an aggravating factor in crimes of sexual harassment and sexual assault, allowing the current punishment to potentially be doubled for sexual offenders with nationalistic motives, where the sentence is under 10 years.
The bill also alters the existing law on sexual harassment to double the amount of compensation granted to victims without them having to prove the “harm” caused to them or if the crime was committed with nationalist motives.
Presenting the bill to parliament, Son Har-Melech from the far-right Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Strength) party said the law provides for “proper and correct treatment to female Jewish victims”.
Arab lawmaker Aida Touma-Sliman, of the opposition Hadash-Ta’al party, told parliament that sexual assailants were “despicable” and should be judged based on the crime, not their identity. “Don’t promote racism on the backs of victims,” she urged. “I don’t care if a sexual offender is Jewish or Arab, or whether the victim is Jewish or Arab. Do not punish according to hierarchies and classifications.”
Orit Soliciano, who heads the Association of Rape Crisis Centres in Israel, also criticised the bill, saying her organisation “does not see any such phenomenon of rape as a form of terror”.
“We think there is an epidemic of sexual violence in Israel; many women, girls and boys suffer. The perpetrators should be harshly punished, and it doesn’t always happen in Israel. But to declare one rape is more horrible than another rape – we do not support this” she said.
The bill was submitted in February following the high-profile rape of a woman in her home in central Israel in front of her children by a Bedouin man and not long after the sentencing of a Palestinian from the West Bank who stabbed a 19-year-old Israeli woman, raped her and left her to die.
The bill also requires the state prosecutor to report the number of “sexual terrorism” cases to the Knesset and for the police to follow up on investigations that have been launched.
