Israel’s defense minister will now be allowed to declare a foreign person or organization a terrorist without such a classification being made prior by any other qualified people abroad, according to a new law passed in the Knesset on Monday.
Thus far, the defense minister did not have the independent authority to declare people or organizations as terrorists.
The law also expands the definition of terrorism to include people who take an active part in funding or equipping a declared terrorist organization even if they are not official members of it.
New welfare laws
The plenum also passed two extension laws to lighten the load on the education and welfare systems.
The first law states that any child who was found to qualify for special education in the last three years will automatically be eligible for another year without needing a committee to debate their cases.
The second law allows the Nation Foster Care Supervisor to extend foster care for children removed from unsafe homes for another three months.
The decision to extend foster care is usually made by the social worker assigned to the child, but since a majority of social workers are currently working with displaced Israelis, survivors of the October 7 terrorist attack, and families of hostages, they are overloaded.
The extension will not be automatic and will be determined per case. The law only applies until January 6.
