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Israel

Direct criminal speech offenses

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Civic layer on Watch

Open Israel venue
Independent-praise crime?
Yes — Combating Terrorism Law §24
Test
Substantial / real possibility (act) or public purpose (organization). Not the Kol Ha'am near-certainty prior-restraint test.
Who decides
Prosecutor, with an Attorney-General indictment gate on §24 charges
Cost
3 years (§24(a)); 5 years (§24(b)); 1 year temporary consumption (§24(c1))
Live statuteSupportedIsraelListed-speech offence

§24(a)

Combating Terrorism Law, 5776-2016

Target
Identification with a terrorist organization — praise, flag, symbol, slogan, anthem
Test
Public + purpose to identify, or actual / real possibility it will lead to a terrorist act or listed offenses (§§22, 23, 25, 29)
Max
3 years
One who commits an act of identification with a terrorist organization, including by publishing words of praise, support or sympathy, waving a flag, displaying or publishing a symbol, or displaying, playing or publishing a slogan or anthem, in one of the following [situations], is liable to three years' imprisonment: (1) In public, for the purpose of identifying with the terrorist organization; (2) In circumstances where there is an actual possibility that the act will lead to the commission of a terrorist act or an offense according to Sections 22, 23, 25 or 29.

Unofficial English translation of חוק המאבק בטרור, התשע"ו-2016, סעיף 24(א). Hebrew official text in Sefer HaHukim 5776 No. 2556.

Cite · Combating Terrorism Law, 5776-2016, §24(a) (Sefer HaHukim 5776 No. 2556) · as of 2026-09-05

§24(a) is the group-identification offense. Do not treat §24(b)(2) as the whole statute.

  • If the talk is about identification with groups, this is the closer statute — not §24(b)(2).
  • Hebrew for the probability limb: אפשרות ממשית (real / substantial possibility).
Primary source
Live statuteSupportedIsrael

§24(b)(1)

Combating Terrorism Law, 5776-2016

Target
Direct call to commit a terrorist act
Test
No probability test. The publication is a direct call.
Max
5 years
One who does one of the following is liable to five years' imprisonment: (1) Publishes a direct call to commit a terrorist act.

Unofficial English translation of §24(b)(1). Hebrew official text in Sefer HaHukim 5776 No. 2556.

Cite · Combating Terrorism Law, 5776-2016, §24(b)(1) · as of 2026-09-05

  • This is incitement as a direct call, not praise or identification.
Primary source
Live statuteSupportedIsraelListed-speech offence

§24(b)(2)

Combating Terrorism Law, 5776-2016

Target
Praise, sympathy, encouragement, support of, or identification with a terrorist act
Test
Content + circumstances create a substantial / real possibility that the publication will bring about a terrorist act
Max
5 years
Publishes praise, sympathy, encouragement or support of a terrorist act, or identification with it, where the content of the publication and the circumstances in which it was published, give rise to a substantial possibility that it will bring about the commission of a terrorist act.

Unofficial English translation of §24(b)(2). Hebrew official text in Sefer HaHukim 5776 No. 2556.

Cite · Combating Terrorism Law, 5776-2016, §24(b)(2) · as of 2026-09-05

The original outline only cited §24(b)(2). Identification with groups is §24(a).

  • Do not collapse this criminal 'substantial possibility' test into Kol Ha'am's constitutional prior-restraint 'near certainty' test.
  • This is the act-praise offense, not the group-identification offense.
  • The probability test here is lower than Kol Ha'am near certainty.
Primary source
Live doctrineSupportedIsrael

HCJ 73/53, 87/53

Kol Ha'am v. Minister of the Interior

Target
Administrative prior restraint of a publication
Test
Near certainty (ודאות קרובה / vada'ut k'rova) that the publication will endanger the public peace
Max
Not a criminal sentence — a restraint on the publication
The Court adopted a probability test for prior restraint, construing 'likely' in the Mandatory Press Ordinance as vada'ut k'rova — near certainty / probability — rather than a bad-tendency standard. That is a constitutional limit on administrative suppression of a newspaper, not the mens rea or probability element of a later criminal statute.

Paraphrase of HCJ 73/53, 87/53, 7 P.D. 871 (1953) (Agranat J.). The 'near certainty' formulation is the conventional English rendering of ודאות קרובה.

Cite · HCJ 73/53, 87/53 Kol Ha'am Co. Ltd. v. Minister of the Interior, 7 P.D. 871 (1953) · as of 2026-09-05

The near-certainty contrast is correct. Do not collapse the constitutional test into the criminal statute.

  • Do not speak as if §24 requires near certainty. It does not.
  • Kol Ha'am is the prior-restraint case. §24 is a listed-speech offence with a lower 'substantial possibility' threshold.
Primary source
Temporary / sunsetSupportedIsrael

§24(c1)

Combating Terrorism Law (Amendment No. 9 and Temporary Order)

Target
Systematic, continuous consumption of specified terrorist publications
Test
Systematic and continuous consumption, in circumstances indicating identification with the organization. Random, good-faith, research, and public-information uses are excluded.
Max
1 year. Temporary provision extended through 30 November 2027.
The amendment law imposes one year of imprisonment on a person who systematically and continuously consumes publications of a specified terrorist organization in circumstances indicating their identification with the terrorist organization. To constitute an offense, the publication must directly call for perpetrating an act of terrorism, or express praise, sympathy, or encouragement for, or document the commission of such an act. Publications made at random, in good faith or for a legitimate purpose, including for the purpose of making information available to the public, preventing [perpetration of] terrorism offenses or research, are excluded.

Library of Congress Global Legal Monitor paraphrase of Combating Terrorism Law §24(c1), Amendment No. 9 (published 12 November 2023).

Cite · Combating Terrorism Law (Amendment No. 9 and Temporary Order), 5784-2023, §24(c1); extension approved 26 November 2025 through 30 November 2027 · as of 2026-09-05

Post-October 7 add. Optional in a short talk. Carry the sunset date every time it is named.

  • Original two-year sunset from publication on 12 November 2023.
  • Knesset press release 26 November 2025: second and third readings extended the temporary provision until 30 November 2027 (19–6–1).
  • Addendum organizations at enactment included ISIS and Hamas.
Primary source
Proposed — not lawUnprovenIsrael

not enacted

Proposed Amendment No. 11 to the Combating Terrorism Law

Target
Would lower the §24 probability threshold to 'reasonable possibility' (as circulated)
Test
Unproven-as-law. Do not speak as if the threshold has moved.
Max
n/a — not law
Treat proposed Amendment No. 11 (lower the threshold to 'reasonable possibility') as Unproven-as-law until gazette confirmation.

Pack freeze, as of 2026-09-05. No Sefer HaHukim citation is attached.

Cite · No gazette citation as of 2026-09-05 · as of 2026-09-05

  • Do not describe the live Israeli test as 'reasonable possibility' unless and until the gazette is attached.
  • Bill text has circulated in the 25th Knesset. That is not enactment.
  • Watcher: official gazette on Amendment No. 11.
Primary source