On October 7, 2015, HaMoked submitted
an objection to the military’s decision to demolish the family home of the suspect in the stabbing attack at the Tel Aviv railway station in November 2014. The demolition order applies to the apartment, located on the ground floor of a two-storey building, in which lived the suspected youth, together with his parents and siblings who live there still.
On October 9, 2015, the military announced its
complete rejection of the objection, claiming that the military commander’s decision to carry out the demolition was “informed and calculated”. The military claimed that “underlying the decision to act for the demolition […] of the structure’s entire ground floor is the military commander’s intention to achieve a clear goal of deterrence, which, in the opinion of the military commander, can only be obtained through the demolition of the entire housing unit”.
The military also rejected HaMoked’s request to receive an engineer opinion on the demolition that would include an estimate of the possible damage to the neighboring apartments. The military maintained that “the mode of operation that was chosen is the best possible mode of operation”.
The military denied that the demolition decision was an act of retaliation over the attack in which the Henkin couple was killed. Nonetheless, the military claimed that “to this attack, alas, several other attacks have been added […] which together point to a substantial change for the worse in the security situation and to the urgent need to pursue deterrence against additional attacks.”
The military announced that the demolition order would not be implemented until October 12, 2015, at 12:00 noon.
HaMoked will petition the High Court of Justice until that time.
