The current debate in the Israeli Knesset regarding the proposed death penalty bill for convicted terrorists is one of the most consequential human rights discussions before that esteemed legislative body in the twenty-first century. Its outcome impacts not only the State of Israel, but Jews everywhere. If the Knesset enacts the bill – if the unconscionable stain of executions succeeds in darkening the moral fabric of Israeli society –  antisemitic extremists would assuredly blame all Jews for their state’s sponsored murder program, neatly fitting it into their warped view of Israel  – and, by extension, Judaism  – as a so-called  “Death Cult.”

Just as this bill jeopardizes the safety and security of Jews across the globe, it also threatens to permanently mar what remains of Israel’s moral standing among the more than 70% of world nations that have abolished the death penalty in law and practice. In the highly volatile political climate that now imperils the rule of law in Israel, this issue further normalizes the invocation of state violence. It widens the gap between modern-day Israel and the central Jewish value of the inviolability of life. Famed death penalty abolitionist Elie Wiesel best articulated this stance when he said of capital punishment that – in the shadow of the Holocaust – “death should never be the answer in a civilized society.”

This vital debate hinges on Justice Minister and death penalty proponent Itamar Ben-Gvir’s repeated claim that the fear of execution would deter would-be terrorists. Just last week, in the wake of the fatal ramming and stabbing of two Israeli citizens in Beit She’an, Ben-Gvir falsely

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