The Knesset plenum passed three bills that define firing on burglars as self-defense in preliminary readings Wednesday.

The bills were presented in the wake of the trial of Negev farmer Shai Dromi for manslaughter, in connection with the shooting death of a burglar on his farm.

The bills, which were passed by a large majority, will now be transferred to the Knesset Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee in order to be prepared for a first reading in the plenum.

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Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann opposes the language of the bills, saying they are too general. According to the bills, "A person will not be held criminally responsible for an act that was necessary to prevent a break-in or entrance into private property with the intent to commit a crime."

The bills state that such actions will be considered self-defense "regardless of the results of the act."

The bills were authored by Yitzhak Aharonovitch (Yisrael Beiteinu), Yisrael Katz (Likud), and Zvi Hendel (National Union-National Religious Party). The bills' authors explained that while the current law does protect people who act in self-defense, it conditions that protection on the circumstances of the incident, the nature of the reaction, and its consequences.

The bills do not require property owners to justify the proportionality of their response to the burglary, in order to deter burglars.

Friedmann told the Ministerial Committee on Legislation on Monday that the bills are far too sweeping, and would allow property owners to shoot and kill intruders, even if the latter entered the property by accident and broke their leg.

Friemann requested the debate on the bills be delayed by three weeks, in order to allow him to formulate a toned-down version of the bill along with the Justice Ministry's legislative department, but the bills' authors turned him down.