This report analyses the Israeli draft law which would permanently and retroactively exempt Israel from much of its liaibility for injuries and deaths inflicted by Israeli security forces in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). This proposed law had enormous implications on Israel's responsibility for violations of international human rights and humanitarian law committed by members of their security forces in the territory it occupies. It also had a grave impact on the rights of the Palestinians who were victims of those violations. Although compensation can never correct an injury in principle, civil liability for the actions of Israeli soldiers has been the only way in which Palestinians have been able to hold the Israeli government accountable for its abuses. Since the publication of this report, the draft text has become Israeli law.
This report analyses the Israeli draft law which would permanently and retroactively exempt Israel from much of its liaibility for injuries and deaths inflicted by Israeli security forces in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). This proposed law had enormous implications on Israel's responsibility for violations of international human rights and humanitarian law committed by members of their security forces in the territory it occupies. It also had a grave impact on the rights of the Palestinians who were victims of those violations. Although compensation can never correct an injury in principle, civil liability for the actions of Israeli soldiers has been the only way in which Palestinians have been able to hold the Israeli government accountable for its abuses. Since the publication of this report, the draft text has become Israeli law.
