Israeli authorities on Wednesday received a go-ahead to raze the home of an East Jerusalem Palestinian man who hijacked a bulldozer in a terrorist rampage in the capital in July of last year.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected a petition filed by Taiser Duwiyat, whose son Hussam Duwiyat stole a bulldozer and plowed into nearby vehicles during rush-hour in the center of Jerusalem, killing three Israeli Jews and injuring dozens.

Four months after the attack, defense officials decided to raze the multi-story home of the terrorist, which also houses his extended family.

Taiser Duwiyat appealed to the High Court earlier this year, claiming that his son was not legally entitled to live in the home. Duwiyat also claimed that he bears no responsibility for the acts of his son, and that destroying his home would be a disproportionate punishment against the family.

The state argued that destroying the home was a security imperative designed to deter such attacks in the future. The High Court agreed with the state's position and rejected Duwiyat's appeal, citing that one terror attack was liable to set off a wave of further attacks.

Justice Edmond Levy ruled that he found no grounds to intervene in the decision reached by defense officials, and that deterrence was a central pillar of the fight against terrorism.

Destroying the homes of the relatives of those who committed terrorist attacks was a common Israeli practice, yet in 2005 a military committee ruled that the tactic did not serve as a deterrent for future attacks.

Yet, four months after a resident of East Jerusalem killed eight people in the Mercaz Harav yeshiva in the center of the capital, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak sought to reinstate the practice in hopes of short-circuiting a proliferation in attacks

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