National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said the bill would deter ‘Arab terrorists’ from kidnapping Israelis in the hope of securing prisoner exchanges.
The Israeli Knesset advanced a bill on Nov. 10 that would mandate the death penalty for terrorists convicted of killing Israeli citizens.
In a vote held late in the day—the first of four needed for the bill to become law—it passed with 39 votes for and 16 against, out of 120 lawmakers.
The bill’s most high-profile backer was National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who called on all political factions to back the bill, which he said in a Telegram post would be seen as a historic move against “Arab terrorism.”
“Potential terrorists already know that their prison sentence is no longer what it used to be—following the dramatic change we have made in the conditions of imprisonment in prisons,” he said in another post.
He added that making death the mandatory punishment for terrorists would prevent “judges with distorted morals” from showing “mercy,” arguing this would stop terror groups from kidnapping Israelis in the hope of forcing the release of one of their own.
“The terrorists will know—this ritual of kidnapping Jews in order to release terrorist murderers from prisons in exchange for them—is over,” Ben-Gvir said.
“Terrorists who come to murder a Jew will be released to only one place: Hell.”
Another supporter of the bill was Knesset member Limor Son Har-Melech, who said that the death penalty for terrorists “is a personal and national obligation.”
This bill is a moral and national response; it is a bill of justice, which says that Jewish blood is not forfeit,” she added.
Currently, the penalty for those convicted of murder in Israel is life imprisonment.
The death penalty for murder was abolished in 1954; however, it can be imposed in exceptional cases, including for crimes such as treason and war crimes committed under the Nazi regime.
It has not been used for decades.
Since the foundation of Israel, the only person ever executed after a civilian trial in the Jewish state was Nazi officer Adolf Eichmann, who was hanged in 1962 after being convicted of crimes against the Jewish people, crimes against humanity, and war crimes relating to his part in the Holocaust.
Following Monday’s vote, the bill will now be referred to a parliamentary committee for further debate before a second and third vote.
By Guy Birchall
