The Association for Civil Rights in Israel sent a letter to Justice
Minister Daniel Friedmann on Tuesday to protest the "dangerous and
unprecedented step" of revising a Basic Law in a bid to circumvent a High
Co

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Court of Justice decision.

The court overturned the Intifada Law, which exempts the state from
compensating Palestinians for damage caused in the course of noncombat
activities in the territories. Friedmann wants to reinstate it.

"Amending a Basic Law to allow the reenactment of a law that was overturned by the High Court of Justice because it impinges on human rights is a dangerous and unprecedented step," wrote ACRI legal adviser Dan Yakir.

"Such a step threatens the limited constitutional protection of some human rights that is currently granted by the Basic Laws."

Friedmann ordered Justice Ministry officials Monday to draft a new version of the Intifada Law within the next two weeks, even if its passage requires a change in the Basic Law. For the revised Intifada Law to survive judicial review, the Basic Law on Human Dignity and Freedom will likely need to be amended.

The High Court overturned the law in December 2006, ruling it unconstitutional.

Adalah  The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel said the attempt to circumvent the High Court ruling "sends a harsh message, whereby the lives and property of the Palestinians are forfeit, and there is no one to pay the price."

The organization called Friedmann's efforts to reenact the Intifada Law "a serious blow to the rights of Palestinian residents of the occupied territories."

Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee chair MK Menachem Ben-Sasson (Kadima) also criticized Friedmann's decision to revise the Basic Law.

"Such laws must not be enacted in separate legislation," said Ben-Sasson. "Amendments to Basic Laws, including the Basic Law on Human Dignity and Freedom ... will be discussed in the constitution committee shortly in the framework of establishing a constitution for Israel."

Ben-Sasson's predecessor as committee chairman, MK Michael Eitan (Likud), had different reasons for slamming the Justice Ministry. Eitan is upset that Justice Ministry officials depicted as extremist a bill he proposed Monday, which would have effectively reinstated the Intifada Law, even though his committee had to tone down the original Intifada Law drafted by the ministry.

Eitan maintains that the High Court should not have overturned the law.