The newly passed death penalty for terrorists law will help prevent another attack like the October 7 massacre, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday, defending the measure amid international condemnation and saying it would align Israel with US capital punishment policies.
The controversial legislation, which was approved in the Knesset last week with 62 lawmakers in favor and 48 against, was sponsored by Ben-Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit Party.
Ben-Gvir has pushed for the legislation since the start of his tenure as national security minister, stating that its passage was a condition of Otzma Yehudit’s coalition agreement with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. According to its proponents, the law will act as a deterrent against terror and serve a measure of justice for victims of terrorism.
In an interview with the Post, Ben-Gvir explained that the US was his model in drafting the bill.
“I think we try to learn a lot of things from the US,” he explained. “The US has a death penalty law, which is correct and just, and it is the most moral thing for someone who murdered children and women.”
“I saw in one prison someone who killed 67 people,” he said. “Someone like that cannot live.”
“So, I think we should learn from these good things they do in the US, and I do. This law works; it deters,” he said.
The passage of this law has led to sharp international condemnation of Israel. When asked about statements from foreign ministers of European countries that urged discarding the bill, Ben-Gvir said that they did not experience October 7 and did not understand why the law was necessary.
“I hope that they won’t need to undergo an October 7 to understand why the law is important,” Ben-Gvir said.
“No one should try to teach Israel its morals,” he added.
“We are doing real work against the terrorists, against those who hate us. It’s very sad to hear that only when it [terrorism] comes to their backyard, they suddenly move – sometimes even too late.”
“I don’t want to wake up too late. I don’t want to wake up again to the morning of October 7.”
“What I am doing is something that needs to be done, and if it were done 20 years ago, then maybe we wouldn’t have undergone October 7 here.”
Ben-Gvir said that when he heard Hamas and the Palestinian Authority had condemned the passage of the law, it only validated to him the importance of the legislation.
“We made a historic move here,” he said. “A law that is so important, so victorious. What proves that the most is perhaps the opposition, from Hamas, as well as from the Palestinian Authority. “
“I read and laughed to hear Hamas say that this is a law that infringes on civil rights. They killed women, killed children, raped, and murdered. And they talk about civil rights violations?”
“But I see their concern. I promise them they will worry a lot more. This is a historic law, and we made history.”
Security experts and critics of the legislation have raised concerns that there is no existing evidence that mandating the death penalty would succeed in acting as a deterrent to terrorism, and it could also have the opposite effect. When asked about these arguments, Ben-Gvir defended his stance, asserting that the law would reduce terrorism.
He said that he had visited prisons and seen that terrorists feared capital punishment.
“You see it already; you see in prison that it really scares the terrorists there. They are scared, very scared, nervous, frightened,” he said.
Ben-Gvir has led reforms in Israel’s prisons to significantly worsen conditions for terrorists. He argued that just by worsening conditions, there has already been deterrence.
He said that previously, the prisons were like “huge summer camps,” which he stopped via reforms.
“They had food like in Vegas hotels, trips to the yard for 20 hours, TV, radio, ping-pong, soccer, university studies, aesthetic treatments, deposits, cafeterias, and sports. I stopped it all. And it proves itself,” he added.
“We had the quietest Ramadan ever in the history of Israel, thanks to very great determination by the police, thanks to zero negligence, thanks to all the changes we made in prisons.”
“Our prisons became real prisons. I am proud of that,” he said.
From the outset, Ben-Gvir wanted an automatic death penalty for all terrorism convictions. The bill was later revised to stipulate that a judge would decide between capital punishment and life imprisonment in areas outside the West Bank.
West Bank terrorists, however, would receive the automatic death penalty, barring specific appeals determined by judges in military courts. The death penalty would then be carried out within 90 days from the time of the sentence by the method of hanging.
MK Gilad Kariv (The Democrats), a leading critic of the bill who filed a petition against it to the High Court, had said that the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), security officials, and experts were against the current version of the bill.
Ben-Gvir responded that the bill received approval from the Shin Bet, Israel Police, Israel Prison Service, and the IDF.
He explained that the Shin Bet did not want the death penalty to be mandatory, as was originally proposed in the bill’s initial outline.
“We then found the correct way to formulate it, in which it’s mandatory death penalty, but in certain rare cases, it’s possible to prevent execution.”
Legal experts and NGOs have also criticized the wording of the bill, with claims that it is discriminatory and would exclude Jews who commit similar acts, being primarily used against Palestinians instead.
When asked about such claims, and regarding how the legislation would impact Jewish terrorists, Ben-Gvir responded that the death penalty would exist in Israeli law and said that almost all terrorists were Arabs.
“Of course, not all Arabs are terrorists, but those who carry out attacks are mostly Arabs.”
“We are talking about Judea and Samaria, which make up about 80% of the application of this law,” he added.
Ben-Gvir explained that the bill contains an element that allows it to apply to someone who seeks to harm the State of Israel, which would include Jews.
Ben-Gvir didn't address Jewish settler violence in West Bank
However, Ben-Gvir did not address cases of Jewish settler violence in the West Bank, focusing instead on Jews who support enemies of the state as those who fall under the category of the law.
“The law can include Jews supporting Hamas or Iran. There are a few, but we have some.”
“But it’s true that the law mostly applies, mainly in Judea and Samaria, where there are 80% of the terrorists,” he said.
Though the law has been approved by the Knesset, it moved almost immediately to the High Court of Justice after petitions were filed against the legislation, warning that it could create a discriminatory system, was unconstitutional, and violated human rights.
This has led to uncertainty over whether the death penalty will ultimately be implemented in Israel or if it will be struck down by the court.
Ben-Gvir told the Post he was certain that the law would be implemented despite the petitions sent to the High Court.
He explained that, in the past, he was told his prison reforms would also be struck down, but they were ultimately carried out.
“In the end, it passed,” he stated. “I wouldn’t be worried about rumors that it won’t pass.”
“We were chosen to legislate, and the court cannot be the ultimate legislator,” he said.
Elaborating on why the legislation was passed now, after delays, Ben-Gvir said, “not everyone supported it.”
“But in the end, there is very broad support; Netanyahu also voted in favor.”
“To terrorists, you have to speak only through force, not through diplomacy, not through hugs or kisses. They want to kill you, no matter who or what you are, and therefore they must be dealt with only through force,” Ben-Gvir added.
Capital punishment has only been carried out twice in Israel’s history.
If the legislation is implemented, executions would resume after more than 60 years. The last person to be executed by Israel was Nazi Holocaust architect Adolf Eichmann, who was hanged in 1962.