2019 Bill To Criminalize Outreach To Minors In Israel Back On The Table With Potential Unity Government

by Monsey.info

With the possibility of a new left wind government in Israel propped up by Naftali Bennet’s Yamina Party, a old Bill from 2019 that would criminalize outreach to minors might be back on the table.

The bill had been proposed by Meretz MK Tamar Zandberg in 2019, which included a punishment of up to six months for those who influenced minors in a religious direction.

In her introduction to the bill, Zandberg wrote: “In light of the many instances in which various religious bodies in Israel are attempting to seduce minors into becoming religious, among other things via activities and disseminating in schools materials which contain threats, it is proposed to prohibit, in the Punishments Law, direct or indirect activities by anyone acting on behalf of such bodies with the goal of enticing minors to become religious.”

Such a bill would create a problem for many Kiruv organizations teenage outreach, making any such organizations outright illegal.

“The proposal discusses enticing a minor, whose beliefs and ideas are not as set as those of an adult. To change his beliefs and turn him from a secular person into a religious person – this is something that it would be worthy for him to weigh on his own, without any pressure or external temptations.”

Despite the potential power of the new government, the bill is unlikely to pass even the new government.