Shin Bet and Israeli army back death penalty for Palestinian prisoners

David Zini, the head of Shin Bet, stated for the first time on Thursday evening during a ministerial meeting on the death penalty for Palestinian detainees that the agency supports such executions.

According to the Palestinian news agency SAMA, a representative of the Israeli army also declared that the position of the army chief of staff does not prevent the enforcement of the death penalty law.

Meanwhile, Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s Minister of National Security, claimed: “This law is important and historic and will achieve deterrence.”

Zini responded: “Yes. This tool is a very powerful deterrent. I will not go into political or legal considerations, but from our perspective, it is a deterrent punishment.”

Minister Gamliel then asked: “But can Jews also be executed?” In response, Bezalel Smotrich said: “Yes, any Jew who works for Iran and commits murder against Israel can be executed.”

According to the principles of the bill, shared via the Internal Security Committee’s WhatsApp group, the law applies only to the killing of Jews and will be approved by a simple majority, without any discretionary authority or possibility of appeal.

The Prison Service will carry out the sentence within 90 days through lethal injection.

Channel 12 commented on the cabinet ministers’ statements, reporting: “It can be assumed that the manner of drafting and pushing this bill shows that its primary goal is electoral. Its chances of being upheld by the Supreme Court in its current form are extremely low.”

Earlier, the draft bill allowing the execution of Palestinian detainees who participated in anti-Israeli operations resulting in Israeli casualties passed its initial reading in the Knesset with 39 votes in favor.