The Knesset plenum on Tuesday passed into law a bill which increases the punishment for incitement against people volunteering in the security forces.
The penal code already sets a prison term of three to 15 years for a person who incites or seeks to persuade a soldier doing compulsory service to desert the army, as well as to anyone giving shelter to such a deserter. The new law equalizes the punishment for those aiding the desertion of a volunteer to those helping a conscript go AWOL.
The bill, proposed by MKs Yoav Kisch (Likud), David Bitan (Likud), Ayelet Nahmias-Verbin (Zionist Camp) and a group of MKs, passed its third and final reading by a vote of 39-9, with one abstention.