Once again the Knesset has taken a step to fill what lawmakers perceive as a void in the nation’s judicial system. Lawmakers passed a bill that demands a minimum jail term of 12 years for a person found guilty of a violent crimes three times in a 15 year period. The bill was passed into law in the event a court exhibits leniency to a habitual criminal. A court will however maintain the authority to exhibit leniency in exceptional circumstances, but leniency may not be less than a 5-year jail term.
The bill was introduced by MK (Kadima) Yochanan Plesner and it was accepted by the government. Some of the crimes included in the new law are murder, manslaughter, attempted murder, robbery and trespassing. The law does not include crimes perpetrated by juveniles.
The bill is intended to provide a feeling of security for citizens since lawmakers are confident it provides a significant deterrent to such heinous crimes, adding it has proven itself in California.
According to a report prepared by retired Police Chief Yehuda Vilk there has been a sharp increase in property-related crimes, 70-80%, as well as in violent crimes. In 1999, 35,500 files were opened addressing violent crimes, as compared to 13,300 in 1990. In 2005 there were 55,000 recorded incidents of bodily violence. In the beginning of the 1990s, crimes involving bodily violence were recorded as 3:1,000 residents and that number rose to 5:1,000 by the end of the decade.
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
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One Response
“proven itself in California”
1. That’s why California is so safe that people don’t lock their homes and go jogging at night????
According the Los Angeles Times, they are considering letting people go from California prisoners since they are full of people who are expensive to incarcerate and don’t pose a threat if released.
2. In Israel, a large percentage of crime is politically motivated. Someone in the West Bank who trespasses on land he doesn’t have clear title to gets 12 years. A hareidi in Jerusalem who throws three dirty diapers, on different occasions, at police, gets 12 years. [I could say the same thing about Arabs, but most people who read YWN favor shooting them even if not guilty].