JERUSALEM (JTA) — The Knesset approved a law setting mandatory minimum prison sentences for throwing rocks at vehicles or people.

The law passed on its second and third readings on Monday night by a vote of 51 to 17.

Under the law, the minimum prison sentence for rock throwing is three years with no possibility for a suspended sentence, except in “extraordinary circumstances.”

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Under the law, the convicted rock thrower cannot receive National Insurance Institute benefits while serving out his term, and if he is a minor, his parents will not receive their monthly NII stipends.

“Throwing a rock is an attempt to murder and there should at least be a minimum punishment,” Knesset Law, Constitution and Justice Committee chairman Nissan Slomiansky of the Jewish Home Party said in presenting the bill to the Knesset, the Jerusalem Post reported.  He said a minimum punishment would serve as a “deterrent.”

Arab lawmakers spoke out against the law, with Arab Joint List lawmaker Jamal Zahalka calling it the “fuel on the fire.”

Also on Monday night, Israeli lawmakers approved the first reading of a bill that would create a separate crime of incitement to violence or terrorism, which would allow the prosecution of people who call for terror attacks such as stabbings. The bill passed its first reading by a vote of 34 to 9, and will be brought up for its second and third readings after it goes to committee for amendment and debate.

The bill makes prosecution easier, by not requiring that it be shown the incitement produced results.

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Arab Joint List lawmakers opposed the legislation, but it was supported by the opposition led by the Zionist Union, according to the Times of Israel.

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