The National Security Committee in Israel’s Knesset is moving forward with a bill to impose the death penalty on Palestinians convicted of deadly attacks and operations that killed Israelis.
According to the Israeli government’s top official on captives’ affairs, Gal Hirsch, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu supports the move.
Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who has long called for the execution of Palestinian prisoners, thanked Netanyahu for supporting the bill in a post on social media.
“I thank the prime minister for his support for Otzma Yehudit’s bill for the death penalty for terrorists, but the court must not have any discretion – every terrorist who goes out to murder must know that the death penalty will be imposed on him. It’s time for justice!” Ben Gvir said.
Israeli media reports said the bill could have its first reading as soon as Wednesday.
“The extremist and terrorist Israeli government once again proves, through this decision, that it feeds off the blood and suffering of prisoners in its jails,” said the Palestinian Center for Prisoners’ Defense. “The repercussions of this fascist step will be even more bloody and will drag the entire region into a new cycle of uncertainty whose consequences no one can predict.”
Lawmakers in the Knesset National Security Committee already voted 4-1 in favor of the bill on 28 September.
The bill – which does not apply to Israelis who kill Palestinians – requires another three votes in a full Knesset session before it is passed into law.
At the time of the vote, Ben Gvir came under fire within Israel for pushing the execution bill at a time when Israeli captives were still held in Gaza.
The National Security Minister threatened on 20 October to stop voting with the ruling coalition if the death penalty bill did not pass its first reading within three weeks.
Prior to the formation of Netanyahu’s ruling coalition, Ben Gvir had been demanding the death penalty for Palestinians and, at one point, even made the demand as a condition for his joining the government.
Since assuming the role of national security minister, Ben Gvir has tightened the already repressive measures against Palestinians in the Israeli prison system.
Hellbound and Down 