Yisrael Beiteinu Party Chairman, MK Robert Ilatov, is supporting his party leader Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman by submitting a proposed bill for the Knesset to pass into law regarding the penalties to be handed out for people filming, photographing or otherwise bothering IDF soldiers while they are on duty. According to the proposed bill, “filming or photographing a soldier on duty and publicizing the material in any fashion, be it social media or otherwise, will carry a penalty of five years imprisonment,” a statement by Ilatov’s head of PR Guy Kimmelmacher.

The newly proposed bill would be an addendum to the existing law of criminal punishments should it pass through the Knesset. It includes penalties against anyone attempting to interfere with soldiers performing their duties by filming, photographing or recording them in any fashion with the intent to publicize the documentation. If the attempt is more than an attempt at defaming a soldier and is deemed to be an attempt at defaming the county’s security and or the IDF, the punishment would be extended to ten years imprisonment.

In the release issued by Kimelmacher, Ilatov is quoted as saying: “The time has come to put an end to these anarchistic attacks on our soldiers. It is inconceivable that any and every left-wing activist from an organization that receives money from abroad to delegitimize Israel should receive free access to our soldiers while they are performing their duty and be able to film and document them without any oversight. It is our responsibility to provide our soldiers with the optimal conditions to fulfill their duty, without them having to worry whether or not a left-wing activist will be publicizing their photos in order to shame them or create social or moral harassment for them.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)