Knesset blocks bid to let all terror victims be buried as Jews
Bereaved families say 7 October victims were ‘Jewish enough to die, but not to be buried’ alongside others
The Knesset has rejected a bill that would have allowed all terror victims to be buried in Jewish cemeteries – including those not recognised as Jewish under halacha – prompting outrage from families and campaigners.
The proposal followed cases from the 7 October Hamas massacre, when several victims were buried in separate sections due to their religious status. Among them was 23-year-old Alina Plahti, who was killed at the Nova festival and laid to rest in a non-Jewish section of Beit She’an cemetery, despite her ongoing conversion process.
“She was Jewish enough in the eyes of the terrorists, but not for the Knesset,” her mother, Olga, said before the vote.
The bill, brought by opposition MK Chili Tropper, sought to give families the choice to bury loved ones in Jewish plots using halachic workarounds already used by the IDF – such as deeper graves with internal lining to maintain separation.
It was defeated by 45 votes to 31 on Wednesday. Religious Affairs Minister Michael Malchieli said the issue should be handled exclusively by the Chief Rabbinate, while Jerusalem Affairs Minister Meir Porush argued that the change could offend observant families.
Campaigners say the decision dishonours the dead and highlights an ongoing rift between religious bureaucracy and national identity.
“It cannot be that a girl comes here at the age of five, lives in Israel, serves in the army, and isn’t allowed to be buried in a Jewish cemetery,” said Abi Moses, chair of the National Organisation of Terror Victims. “They should be ashamed of themselves.”
More than half a million Israelis – mostly immigrants or their children – are not halachically Jewish according to the Chief Rabbinate but are fully integrated into Israeli society, including through IDF service.
Rabbi Seth Farber, director of religious rights group ITM, said the vote shows Israel still hasn’t learnt the lessons of 7 October. “We need to come up with a way for people who are killed like this to receive the full respect they deserve.”
Under parliamentary rules, the bill cannot be reintroduced for six months – but Farber said he would continue campaigning: ‘We will have to see where the political constellations are in another six months, to see whom we can work with and whom we can’t.”
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