Israel's Knesset passes law stripping parents of convicted Palestinian minors of benefits

The Israeli Knesset on Tuesday passed a law targeting parents of Palestinian children who have been convicted of security offences the courts deemed as "terrorism".

Local rights groups have condemned this as a form of collective punishment.

The law targets Palestinian citizens of Israel and revokes welfare benefits from parents of minors, meaning that parents will lose access to benefits, including child allowances, education grants, alimony payments, and additional income support while their child is detained.

The legislation was introduced after a 2021 Israeli Supreme Court decision that struck down a similar 2015 law following a petition filed by human rights organisations. The new law mirrors the 2015 law.

The law denied benefits to parents of minors convicted of security-related offences or offences committed based on "nationalist motives". The court held the law was unconstitutional as it violated the principle of equality.

The new legislation removes the "nationalist motives" and instead requires courts to determine whether the offence constitutes acts of terrorism.

Adalah, The Legal Centre for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, had demanded the law to be withdrawn as it was "unconstitutional", noting that denying these benefits amounted to "collective punishment" and had violated fundamental rights.

"The Knesset is not only imposing harsher penalties but also weaponising welfare benefits against Palestinians – attacking fundamental rights that have no connection to criminal law," Adalah said in a statement.

"The law clearly seeks to deepen Israel's two-tiered legal system."

The rights group also argued that the law was a "transparent attempt" to circumvent the 2021 decision without addressing the identified constitutional flaws.

Hundreds of Palestinian children have been incarcerated by Israel, with approximately 500-700, some as young as 12 are detained and prosecuted in the Israeli military court system – according to the Defence for Children International Palestine.

The most common charge is "stone-throwing".