Knesset Approves Death Penalty for Terrorists Bill
The Knesset plenum approved a bill on Monday evening that would legislate the death penalty for terrorists in Israel.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived at the Knesset to vote in favor of the controversial legislation, openly showing his support.
The bill, which was sponsored by far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir's Otzma Yehudit Party, would, according to its proponents, act as a deterrent against terror and serve a measure of justice for victims of terrorism.
Ben-Gvir has pushed for the legislation since the start of his tenure as national security minister, repeatedly stating that its passage was a condition of Otzma Yehudit’s coalition agreement with Netanyahu
Discussions on the bill have been held in the plenum since morning, ahead of its second and third readings. The bill passed its first reading in January and has been debated in the Knesset National Security Committee since then
Yisrael Beytenu Party leader Avigdor Liberman voted in favor of the bill after his stance had been unclear. On Sunday, it was reported that his party would only vote in favor of the bill if Netanyahu and Arye Deri, leader of the Shas Party, would arrive to vote.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) stated that he opposed the bill during remarks at the plenum. "What is on the Knesset table here is not a law. It is a distorted public-relations stunt, cynically using the justifiable pain and anger of Israeli citizens for political gain," he said.
Blue and White Party leader Benny Gantz also voted against the bill
The haredi Sephardic Shas Party stated on Monday it would vote in favor of the death penalty bill at the directive of the Council of Torah Sages, after various changes were made to it.
Content of the death penalty bill
The updated outline of the bill proposes that executions for terrorists would be carried out by hanging, implemented by the Israel Prison Service.
From the outset, Ben-Gvir wanted an automatic death penalty for terrorism convictions, and that was the outline passed in the first reading.
The revised version stipulates that a judge would decide between capital punishment and life in prison.
Terrorists from the West Bank, however, would still get the automatic death penalty, barring specific appeals.
The legislation has undergone several changes in recent weeks to soften some of its technical aspects, following criticism that certain provisions were too harsh or unrealistic.
The bill had also originally proposed carrying out executions by lethal injection before switching to hanging. Under the current outline, the execution would be carried out within a defined time frame of up to 90 days from the date of the sentence.
Strong opposition to the bill has also come from lawmakers within the Arab parties in the Knesset. Ben-Gvir has clashed with them on numerous occasions as the bill was being developed.
Representatives from several Jewish human rights organizations have attended multiple committee discussions, voicing opposition to the bill on ethical grounds.
After the Knesset National Security Committee advanced the bill last week for its final readings, Ben-Gvir called it a “historic moment of justice” and vowed to “continue to lead an uncompromising policy against terrorism.”
The Knesset committee has held marathon discussions on the bill to advance it rapidly, with the discussions continuing amid the war. Opposition lawmakers have sharply criticized the coalition for advancing controversial legislation unrelated to the war during Operation Roaring Lion.
MK Zvika Fogel (Otzma Yehudit) opened remarks at the plenum on the bill on Monday, saying that "This law is not about revenge or rage, but about the responsibility of a state towards its citizens, the responsibility of leadership towards human life."
MK Gilad Kariv (The Democrats), a leading opponent of the bill, responded that "This is an immoral law, neither Jewish nor democratic, and also not effective from a security perspective."
"During all the long months of discussions on this bill, no professional opinion was presented to justify the assumptions it relies upon. Whenever we requested expert opinions or details on the much-claimed staff work, the professionals disappeared, and we received nothing," he added.
Capital punishment has only been carried out twice in Israel’s history.
If the legislation is passed and it is implemented, executions would resume after more than 60 years. The last person to be executed by the Jewish state was Nazi Holocaust architect Adolf Eichmann, who was hanged in 1962.
Meanwhile, there has been international condemnation of the bill. On Sunday, the foreign ministers of Germany, France, Italy, and the UK urged Israeli lawmakers to discard the bill.
The European ministers said it had a “de facto discriminatory character” and risked “undermining Israel's commitments to democratic principles.”
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