Court May Allow Seditionists to Perform Community Service

Two right-wing Israelis convicted of sedition have been sentenced to relatively light prison terms.

Shmuel Sackett and Moshe Feiglin, are the leaders of Zo Artzeinu, or This Is Our Land, a grass-roots movement that opposes the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

The two, who organized mass demonstrations against the government of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in the summer of 1995, were convicted two months ago of sedition.

They were sentenced Tuesday by the Jerusalem Magistrates Court to jail terms of four and six months, respectively.

It was believed the judge would let the two do community service instead of serving time in jail.

The decision is expected to be announced Dec. 17.

In his ruling, the judge said the defendants had chosen to repeatedly breach the law and had organized protests that were a danger to democracy, law and public order.

But in rendering his decision, the judge said that he had taken into account that the organization advocated peaceful protest, adding that he also wanted to stress the importance of upholding freedom of expression.

Some 50 supporters of Sackett and Feiglin greeted the decision with cheers and song.

Sackett said he did not regret his actions.

“We did what Judaism commanded us to do and what democracy permitted us to do. We did what we had to and we would do it again,” he told Israel Radio.

The lawyer for the defense, Shmuel Casper, said the sentencing decision was significant.

“I think the court is uncomfortable with the sedition clauses in the law, and I believe the court would prefer if they were changed and modified.”