The Knesset plenum on Wednesday approved the preliminary reading of an amendment to Israel’s Flag, Emblem and Anthem Law which seeks harsher penalties for dishonoring the national flag or emblem. The proposed law will increase the punishment to a prison term of three years and/or a fine of up to 50,000 shekel (roughly $12,000). According to the bill, any citizen who is convicted of burning the Israeli flag will be sentenced to three years in prison, and will also be denied benefits such as scholarship eligibility, health services and unemployment assistance for a period of six years.
MK Nava Boker (Likud) who introduced the legislation along with a group of MKs, said it was proposed at the beginning of the current wave of terror, “during which we are seeing demonstrations all across Israel where people are burning Israeli flags and continue with their lives as if nothing happened. This bill seeks to put an end to this absurd situation. Burning a flag is an aggressive act which has an element of incitement against the sovereign.”
MK Esawi Frej (Meretz) asked: “Will this bill reduce the number of attacks? What will you gain from it?”
Forty-one MKs voted for the initial version of the bill, 30 opposed. The bill will now go to committee for hearings and additional debates.