Expel to Gaza the families of Palestinians who attack Israelis. That is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s latest proposal to combat the third intifada and dissuade possible future assailants. On March 2, the Prime Minister's Office asked Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit to examine the legality of such expulsions, or perhaps more properly, to “whitewash” them.

In the letter, which the Prime Minister’s Office released to the media, Netanyahu explained, “I believe that using this tool would result in a significant reduction in the number of terrorist attacks against the State of Israel, its citizens, and its residents.” Why was the request to the attorney general provided to the media? It is not clear. Was the Prime Minister’s Office trying to put pressure on the attorney general, who seems to oppose any collective punishment that might not pass muster with the Supreme Court? Might Netanyahu be trying, yet again, to show the Israeli public that he has more effective methods to stop the wave of terrorism but is being hindered by the legal system?

Regardless, the proposal to expel the families of attackers as a form of collective punishment had been raised by the security forces as early as November 2015, in response to the stabbing attack in the Etzion settlement bloc in which Hadar Buchris was killed. According to security sources, the investigation of the incident revealed that the assailant’s mother knew that he was planning to launch the attack but failed to prevent it or report him. This became the basis of the proposal to include the families of terrorists in the circle of punishment and deterrence.

In October, when the current intifada began, the defense establishment had offered several proposals on how to combat the wave of terrorism. At the time, the specific characteristics of the intifada were unclear, and the main concern was that various armed Palestinian groups, such as Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Fatah’s armed wing, the Tanzim, might join it.