Israel’s Defense Minister, “Every additional terrorist who enters prison alive creates an incentive for more attacks. To all those who claim the death penalty is unacceptable, I would like to remind you that a Boston court sentenced to death a terrorist who carried out an attack,” calling Massachusetts “the most liberal state” in the U.S.

By Gideon Allon

The Israel Beytenu faction on Wednesday will present a bill that would apply the death penalty to terrorists convicted of murder to the Knesset plenum for a preliminary hearing.

The Knesset, located in Jerusalem, Capital of Israel – Photo: IsraelandStuff/PP

At a faction meeting on Monday, Defense Minister and Israel Beytenu leader Avigdor Lieberman said, “Every additional terrorist who enters prison alive creates an incentive for more attacks. To all those who claim the death penalty is unacceptable, I would like to remind you that a Boston court sentenced to death a terrorist who carried out an attack to death.” Calling Massachusetts “the most liberal state” in the U.S., Lieberman said that “on average, they [Americans] sentence more than 30 people to death every year there. In our handling of terrorism, there is no reason for us not to follow the path of the greatest democracy in the world.”

Representatives from the Choose Life forum of bereaved families that supports the death penalty for terrorists were also in attendance at the faction meeting.

Speaking at the meeting, Devora Gonen, whose son Danny was murdered in a terror attack in 2015, explained why she supports the legislation.

“No one wants to promote the death sentence for terrorists in order to punish someone, but rather to create real deterrence, the kind that will convince the next murderer to renounce terror. My goal is to save lives. No one will ever bring my Danny back, [but] we can prevent the next murder.”

Israel Hayom Chairman Robert Ilatov said that should the legislation be approved, there would no longer be favorable prison conditions, and we would no longer see people celebrating terrorist attacks.

Ilatov said that “for bereaved families, this is a correction of a historical injustice.”

View original Israel Hayom publication at:
http://www.israelhayom.com/2017/12/26/knesset-plenum-to-vote-on-death-penalty-for-terrorists/