Death Penalty for Terrorists Passes First Knesset Vote

If democracies like America and Japan execute the worst criminals, so should Israel, argues opposition lawmaker in support of death penalty bill.

By Pesach Benson | | Topics: War on Terror
Israel Beiteinu party chief Avigdor Liberman sits in opposition to the Netanyahu government, but fully supports its death penalty legislation.
Israel Beiteinu party chief Avigdor Liberman sits in opposition to the Netanyahu government, but fully supports its death penalty legislation. Photo: Eitan Elhadez-Barak/TPS

(TPS) Legislation introducing the death penalty for terrorists passed its initial Knesset vote on Wednesday.

The bill passed by a vote of 55-9. The vote was boycotted by most members of the opposition, who went to join street protests against judicial reforms. But other opposition members, including the Israel Beiteinu party, supported the legislation.

According to the bill, capital punishment would be applied to someone who “intentionally or out of indifference causes the death of an Israeli citizen when the act is carried out from a racist motive or hate to a certain public… and with the purpose of harming the State of Israel and the rebirth of the Jewish people in its homeland.”

The death penalty bill faces further legislative hurdles before becoming law.

After the vote, Israel Beiteinu party leader Avigdor Liberman said, “Even in the largest democracies in the world, it can be seen that in the USA since 2015 more than 160 death sentences have been carried out and in the second biggest democracy, Japan, more than 30. Therefore, as those who are in an existential war, we certainly can and must change the law.”

Reacting against the legislation, the Arab Hadash-Ta’al parliamentary faction said in a statement that the bill is “crossing a clear red line as part of Israel’s deterioration into total fascism.”

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara has voiced opposition to the death penalty, arguing that it does not lead to deterrence.

The only individual ever executed by Israel was Adolf Eichmann, the Nazi architect of the Holocaust. He was hung in 1962 and his ashes scattered at sea after he was found guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity.

An Israeli court sentenced John Demjanjuk to death in 1998 for crimes against humanity while working at different concentration camps. However, Israel’s Supreme Court overturned the sentence in 1993. Israel eventually extradited Demjanjuk, who died in Germany while appealing a conviction there.

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One response to “Death Penalty for Terrorists Passes First Knesset Vote”

  1. Vernon Ryan says:
    March 2, 2023 at 5:39 pm

    Why should a murderer reside in a cell with three meals a day and medical benefits while his victim lays in a grave and the victims family lives in turmoil because justice is not carried out while the murderer still lives?
    Those who serve a short sentence usually are much smarter when they are released because of the education they get from others who are in prison for the same crime but have life sentences and won’t see the light of day.
    Think about it, the victim will never be freed, why should the murderer be allowed to live?
    What did the Lord say about it?

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