The Constitution, Law and Justice Committee will soon discuss the Anti-Libel Bill (Amendment – Defamation of IDF Soldiers) proposed by MKs Yoni Shatbon, Yariv Levin and Nachman Shai. The Association for Civil Rights in Israel warns: this law would cause extreme harm to freedom of expression and will limit the work of journalists and documentary makers.
In a position paper prepared by ACRI, Attorney Avner Pinchuk, Director of the Right to Privacy Program, explains that the bill, commonly referred to as the ‘Jenin, Jenin Bill’, threatens anyone who dares to criticize, publish testimony or express an opinion on the mistreatment of enemy soldiers, Palestinians or even Israelis within the Occupied Territories. Publications critical of military operations can make mistakes in good faith, but they should be encouraged and not deterred due to the importance of their work.
The bill is a reaction to the film “Jenin, Jenin” and the ensuing judgment rejecting the libel suit filed by a group of soldiers against filmmaker Mohammed Bakri. The draft bill seeks to allow each soldier taking part in the criticized operation to file a civil lawsuit for libel even if his reputation was not harmed. The explanatory notes to the bill indicate the real goal of this legislation: limiting freedom of speech for propaganda purposes.
According to Attorney Pinchuk, “defamation law is designed to protect an individual’s right to protect his good name, and only in pursuit of that goal do we impose severe restrictions on freedom of expression. Today we see cases of people taking advantage of this exception to freedom of expression in order to silence legitimate criticism. This bill is expected to exacerbate this phenomenon.”
Attorney Pinchuk further notes that the Attorney General originally decided not to prosecute Bakri fearing that it would only increase the exposure of Jenin, Jenin, and present the state in a negative and undemocratic light.
Attorney Pinchuk stated that “this is even more true of the proposed law before us.”
Related Materials
ACRI’s Position Paper on the Bill (in Hebrew).
ACRI Report: The Silencer – Libel Litigation as a Threat to Free Speech.
