Today (Tuesday April 4) State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman related to the government's activity against terrorists. In a lecture at the Faculty of Law at the College of Management Academic Studies, the Comptroller said:
"Israel's citizens are currently experiencing a wave of murderous terrorism that has already taken the lives of 14 victims, and many others are forced to cope hourly with the injuries that the terrorists have caused them. This morning too there was another terrorist attack, hence I wish a quick recovery to the police officer who neutralized the terrorist.
In a report that we published a few months ago, it became clear that there is one simple and effective tool that the State of Israel is not using in the struggle against terrorism: filing civil lawsuits against terrorists, whether they are residents of the State of Israel or Palestinians. In such a case, this can be done by offsetting payments from the Palestinian Authority.
The terrorists need to understand that terrorism is not worth it, including economically.
The State of Israel compensates victims of terrorism. In 2019 the National Insurance Institute paid NIS 540 million to victims of hostile actions. But during the years 2018-2019 the state did not file any civil lawsuits against terrorists.
Soon I will publish a report on Operation Guardian of the Walls. Aside from the casualties, in the riots in May 2021 there was serious damage to property and we will examine the implementation of the civil enforcement tool. These riots and the terrorist attacks of the last few weeks illustrate the need for civil enforcement.
I call on the Minister of Justice and the Attorney General to use the civil enforcement tool. It should be emphasized that no legislative changes are needed for this. There is only a need to decide on enforcement, and to enforce. This is essential for both doing justice and the war on terrorism."