Last update - 00:00 26/03/2008
Knesset passes bill that rapists will serve at least 9 years in prison
A bill proposing that convicted rapists will serve a minimum of eight years in prison passed its first reading in the Knesset Wednesday.
The bill also states that anyone guilty of a severe case of rape will serve at least 10 years.
The bill, which was proposed by Labor MK Ephraim Sneh and Kadima MK Amira Dotan, takes a harder line against rapists. Today, the minimum prison sentence for rapists is 4 to 5 years.
Sneh said that on average in the past few years, rapists were sentenced to only 4.5 to 6 years in prison.
"This is a grave statistic. Our courts our pitying these people," Sneh said.