Israeli ministers back ban on filming soldiers
Opposition lawmaker slams bill as ‘dangerous and anti-democratic’, warning it would ‘harm the media and civil society organisations’
Israeli ministers on Sunday backed a draft law carrying a jail term of up to 10 years for those who film or photograph soldiers with harmful intent, the justice ministry said.
Critics say the law, which will now face a series of parliamentary debates, could be a threat to free speech.
The ministerial committee on legislation endorsed the bill against “people who film, photograph or record soldiers performing their duties in order to demoralise soldiers and Israeli civilians”.
The draft law would give courts the power to imprison those found guilty for five years, although a 10-year sentence would apply to defendants convicted of trying to “harm the state’s security”.
The same prison terms would apply to people sharing such images or recordings on social media or through traditional media.
Explanatory notes of the bill say that local “anti-Israeli” NGOs, as well groups affiliated with the “Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions” (BDS) movement, spend days around “soldiers eagerly awaiting activity that could be documented in a biased way and used to defame them”.