An expanded 9-justice panel of the High Court of Justice on Thursday, 1 Rosh Chodesh Adar 5772 ruled to reject a petition challenging a Knesset Law granting amnesty to persons charged with law-breaking involving their activities during the 2005 expulsion from Gaza and northern Shomron.

The court stated that while doing so, it is aware there is a measure of favoritism to a specific sector of society, pointing out the extenuating circumstances and the fact that it applies to only 150 people.

Outgoing court president, Justice Dorit Beinish spoke of the unique situation and the trauma of the events that occurred, a trauma that delivered a blow to an entire segment of the population. She cited most of the people involved are regular normal law-abiding citizens who were simply seeking a form of protest and not necessarily seeking to become involved in illegal activity.

Under the law, those persons who have a criminal record and/or face legal proceedings resulting from their illegal actions protesting the government’s eviction of Jews from the areas mentioned will emerge with a clean slates, with the criminal record from explulsion related activities expunged.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)