DIN:Fascinating, isn’t it? First they refuse to serve in the army, and now they want to keep terrorists alive—as bargaining chips for the next time Jews are kidnapped. It’s a twisted logic that rewards evil and punishes responsibility.
The Satmar Rebbe was right: frum Jews should never have joined the Knesset. And now, watching their leadership twist halachic concepts to justify moral cowardice, I understand why he called them minim and apikorsim. They’ve abandoned clarity, courage, and truth.
Rav Lando argues that executing terrorists could provoke global Arab violence—that it’s a case of rodef, endangering Jewish lives. He says the courts won’t approve it anyway, so why stir the pot?
Well, I have news for Rav Lando: terrorists who are executed don’t murder, rape and kidnap again. Sinwar was spared, and that decision led directly to the horrors we’ve witnessed—rape, murder, and mass kidnapping. That’s not theoretical. That’s blood on the ground.
Keeping terrorists alive isn’t mercy—it’s madness. And dressing it up in halachic language doesn’t make it holy. It makes it dangerous.
The bill to impose the death penalty on terrorists is expected to be brought for a vote in the Knesset plenum on Monday, but it appears not to have blanket support among coalition factions.
The Lithuanian-Charedi Degel Hatorah faction, half of the United Torah Judaism (UTJ) party, has announced that its MKs will vote against the proposal following a Sunday night instruction from Rabbi Dov Lando, the faction’s spiritual leader.
Among Rabbi Lando’s arguments is a claim that there is a concern of "rodef," someone pursuing another to take his life, "because if Arabs around the world see that we are doing something like this, it could lead to bloodshed. In any case there is no chance that a court will approve the death penalty, so this is provocation for its own sake."
Members of Chasidic Agudat Yisrael faction, the other half of UTJ, are expected to be absent from the vote, and Sephardic-haredi Shas has not yet reached a final decision on how its Knesset members will act; the matter is still under internal discussion.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who chairs Otzma Yehudit, responded: "Unfortunately, [Degel Hatorah chairman MK Moshe] Gafni once again chose his old alliance with [Joint Arab List MK Ahmad] Tibi. Gafni’s habit of veering to the left contradicts the views of his voters who are persecuted by the Left. The death penalty for terrorists will deliver justice and deterrence, also for the haredi families [whose loved ones were] murdered in attacks, and I expect all haredi Knesset members to support this life-saving law, and not believe the hollow promises of the Left and the Arab parties."
"Choosing Life," a forum that brings together hundreds of bereaved families and terror victims, sent a sharp letter to the Degel Hatorah MKs, demanding they not vote against the bill to sentence terrorists to death.
The families recalled the Knesset members’ support for releasing terrorists in the past and said the law would be for them “the beginning of a correction and a bit of consolation.” In their view, “This law is not only a matter of justice; it is a law to save lives. It will deter potential terrorists, prevent their release in future deals, and ensure that the blood of our loved ones was not spilled in vain.”
The bill is promoted by Otzma Yehudit, led by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, with the backing of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The proposal stipulates that a terrorist who murdered an Israeli civilian out of racial or communal hostility, with the aim of harming the State of Israel and the rebirth of the Jewish people in their ancestral homeland, shall be sentenced to death, and only to death.
In addition, the proposal changes the law so that the death penalty could be handed down by a military court with a regular majority of judges, and not only unanimously. It also prevents any mitigation of the sentence of someone who has been given the death penalty in a final judgment.
Brig. Gen. (res.) Gal Hirsch, Israel’s coordinator for hostages and missing persons, also voiced support for the law last week.
“Previously I opposed the law because of the danger to hostages in Gaza,” Hirsch said. “Because all of the living hostages have been returned, the reality has changed. I spoke with the Prime Minister, and he supports the law.”
Hirsch added: “I view this law as a tool for dealing with terrorism. The coordinator for hostages and missing persons should be allowed to submit a classified report to the judge before sentencing a terrorist to death.”
No comments:
Post a Comment