On Monday evening, shortly after another report of an Israeli soldier killed in the fighting in Lebanon, on a day when Iranian missiles struck several cities in Israel and the country’s central oil refinery, champagne was popped in the Knesset. 

Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, a convicted criminal with various offenses including incitement to racism and support for a terrorist organization, led the celebration, which took place in an underground hall protected from missile strikes. The cause for celebration was a new law that passed in the Knesset – the death penalty for terrorists law.

The death penalty has always existed in the Israeli legal code, but it was only applied once, in 1962, against the Nazi criminal Adolf Eichmann, who was convicted of crimes against humanity. The initiative for the new law comes from the “Jewish Power” party of Minister Ben-Gvir, the successor to the “Kach” movement, which was declared a terrorist organization in 1994 after one of its leaders, Baruch Goldstein, carried out a mass shooting at the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron.

The new law seeks to lift various restrictions on the death penalty and make it mandatory for murder offenses committed to “deny the existence of the State of Israel” – a phrase included in the law to create a distinction between Arab and Jewish murderers – and to ensure that the law applies only to Arabs.

This immoral and un-Jewish law, alongside its racist distinction, abolishes a series of checks that existed in the past – including the elimination of the requirement for unanimous agreement among judges, the imposition of the death penalty as a mandatory sentence for the offenses it applies to, the abolition of the possibility of receiving a pardon, and the establishment of a very short timeline of only 90 days for filing an appeal, with the maximum time for carrying out the death sentence by hanging being only 180 days.

One of the drafters of the proposal was MK Tzvika Foghel from the Otzma Yehudit party, a retired general in the IDF and currently the chairman of the National Security Committee. Foghel addressed the sharp international criticism against the legislation and said, “the security of Israeli citizens is more important than their ability to go on vacation in the Maldives,” in line with the vision of this government: Israel as a “Super Sparta,” politically and economically isolated, and reliant solely on its military strength. A state that is being drained of its democratic and liberal values and is increasingly sanctifying death over life.

But even a promise of security is a hollow one. Over the years, all Israeli security organizations, including the IDF, the Shin Bet, and the National Security Council, have opposed the implementation of the death penalty on attackers. Those who intend to murder Israelis know that there is a high chance they will not come out alive. They seek to become “martyrs,” and the death penalty will not deter them –it could, however, lead to hostage negotiations and executions of Israeli captives. But the lawmakers who supported the law are interested in headlines, not in reality.

Even Prime Minister Netanyahu made the effort to come to the Knesset to support this law, which unfortunately also received the backing of several members of the opposition.

The measure is such extreme legislation that it is likely to face pushback from the Israeli Supreme Court, which may lead to its amendment. The law captures the spirit of the government: A far-right Jewish supremacist government that, through its negligence, brought the greatest disaster in the history of the state upon the citizens of Israel on October 7, 2023. This government’s actions are increasingly isolating Israel, turning it into a pariah state and trapping its citizens in a reality of endless war. 

As news breaks about the death of four more Israeli soldiers in battle in Lebanon, we write these words. Jewish citizens of Israel are gearing up for a third wartime Passover, a holiday meal that sirens will likely interrupt. Netanyahu’s far-right government is leading us into an eternal war and seeks to mask its failures by sowing racism and even death.

These are not easy days, but alongside them, there is also hope. Israel will hold elections in the coming months, and Netanyahu and his partners are falling far behind. Not all in the opposition are truly liberal, and Netanyahu will try to sabotage the elections, but there is still hope for change. We will fight for that change and work to overturn this racist law from the Israeli legal code.

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)