A controversial bill which proposed a filming ban on Israeli soldiers has been amended after the Attorney-General’s Office ruled it illegal.
The initial bill proposed by the ultranationalist Yisrael Beitenu party in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's governing coalition, made filming or publishing footage "with intent to harm the morale of Israel's soldiers or its inhabitants" punishable by up to five years in prison.
It was approved by the Ministerial Committee for Legislation on Sunday under the provision that a number of changes were made to its wording before it is presented to parliament on Wednesday.
The amended bill will call for the banning of interfering with Israeli soldiers while they are on duty prohibiting them from doing their job and will not totally prohibit filming as previously stated.
It is anticipated that the amended bill will pass with the coalition’s support.
The bill appears to have been prompted by the filming of Israeli soldier Elor Azaria fatally shooting an incapacitated Palestinian attacker in the West Bank city of Hebron who was lying on the ground in March 2016.
Mr Azaria was convicted of manslaughter and served nine months of an 18-month prison sentence.
The case bitterly divided the nation. Israel's military pushed for his prosecution, saying he violated its code of ethics. But many Israelis, particularly on the nationalist right, defended his actions.
The bill's sponsor, Robert Ilatov of the ultranationalist Yisrael Beitenu party, insisted in a radio interview Monday that the bill "does not impinge on free speech." He said it only prevents obstruction of soldiers in the line of duty.
Ilatov wrote on Facebook last week that the bill's aim is to prevent "left wing organisations from disseminating (soldiers') pictures for the sake of shaming them."
Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman, head of the Yisrael Beitenu party, praised the bill on Sunday for helping protect Israeli soldiers from "Israel-haters and terror supporters trying to denigrate, humiliate and harm them."
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The text of the bill specifically mentions B'Tselem, Machsom Watch and Breaking the Silence - Israeli advocacy groups critical of the West Bank occupation - as "anti-Israeli and pro-Palestinian" organisations whose activity documenting the Israeli military the legislation seeks to combat.
"Most of these groups are supported by foundations, organisations and governments with clear anti-Israeli perspectives and agendas, which use these tendentious materials for harming the state of Israel and its security," the bill reads.
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The bill is the latest in a series of legal measures passed or proposed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's nationalist government to curb organisations critical of Israel's occupation of the West Bank.
Opposition lawmakers and rights groups said they were surprised the legislation made it this far.
"If there is a problem with the reality that the occupation creates, we should change it, not try to hide it," said Tamar Zandberg, head of the liberal opposition Meretz Party.
Talia Sasson, president of the New Israel Fund, a liberal advocacy group that supports groups that document rights abuses in the West Bank, called the bill "an arrow shot into the heart of the state of Israel."
Israeli journalists also criticised the proposal, saying it would hinder their ability to work.
Israeli photographer Ohad Zwigenberg said journalists must be allowed to "document reality as it is."
"A world without real journalism that is free and neutral is an insane world," he said.
This article has been amended after it was brought to our attention that the bill’s wording will be changed before it is presented to Parliament to call for the banning of interfering with Israeli soldiers while they are on duty and will not totally prohibit filming as previously stated.
