Israel has taken a further step to approve the application of the death penalty for terrorists. With the support of the ultra-conservative government of Beniamin Netanyahu, the Israeli parliament on Wednesday gave the green light, in a preliminary vote, to the bill that seeks to reintroduce the death penalty for those convicted of terrorism.
In protest, the majority of the opposition absented themselves from the vote, which concluded with 55 votes in favor and 9 against a bill that would allow the death penalty to be applied to anyone "intentionally or through indifference causing the death of an Israeli citizen when the act is carried out for a racist motive or hatred towards someone”. The text also specifies that the purpose of the reprehensible action is "to harm the State of Israel and the rebirth of the Jewish people in their homeland."
The initiative provoked an angry reaction from the Arab minority in the Knesset, which described the proposal as "fascist". The bill represents "clearly crossing a red line as part of Israel's slide towards full fascism," Hadash-Ta'al, the Arab group in Israel's parliament, said in a statement.
"From here, the path to the elimination of those who challenge the regime is short," the note read. "Today it is the Palestinians, tomorrow it will be the protesters in the streets," added Hadash-Ta'al. "Ben-Gvir will have an easy time shooting when it comes to determining who is a terrorist," the statement said, referring to Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, one of the far-right leaders of the Netanyahu government coalition.
In plenary session, the ultranationalist deputy Son Har Melech –who lost her husband in an attack in 2003– affirmed that applying the death penalty to terrorists is “fair, ethical and necessary”.
Criticism of Israel has also come from abroad. Especially significant is the reaction of the German Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock, who on Tuesday expressed her "concern" about the initiative and stated that its approval "would be a big mistake."
