Israel’s Prime Minister supports his ministers that advocated for capital punishment for the Palestinian terrorist who reveled in his murder of the Solomon family from Halamish.

By J’POST.COM STAFF, HERB KEINON

The terrorist who killed Yosef, Chaya and Elad Solomon in Halamish last Shabbat “should simply never smile again,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday, advocating the death penalty in this case.

“It is time for the death penalty for terrorists,” Netanyahu said during a bereavement call he made with his wife Sara to the Solomon home in Elad.

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to the family members of the three people killed by a Palestinian terrorist in Halamish. – Photo: AMOS BEN-GERSHOM/GPO

Netanyahu said the death penalty was anchored in law, but that a ruling on this matter needs the consent of judges trying the case, and they want to know the government’s position.

“My position as the prime minister is that in this case, with such a lowly murderer, he has to be taken out to die. He should simply never smile again.

Israeli military courts can sentence someone to death, though the option has not been used since 1962, when Adolf Eichmann was hanged after being convicted of genocide and crimes against humanity

Meretz faction chairman, Ilan Gilon, criticized Netanyahu’s comments.

Site of Palestinian Slaughter of three in Halamish – IDF Spokesperson’s Unit

“The worsening situation of Netanyahu in the polls is so bad that he’s quaking in his boots. He has heard the choir of bloodthirsty right-wing leaders and has decided to join the ‘who can be more extreme and more populist’ competition,” said Gilon.

“The death penalty is a invalid, dangerous punishment and it goes against every humanist principle,” added Gilon. “We cannot let populism dictate our priorities and lead to an unprecedented eruption in Arab-Jewish relations.”

The terrorist, Omar Al-Abed al-Jalil, 19, from Kobar, was neutralized when shot in the stomach by an IDF soldier on leave at the time – a neighbor of the Solomon’s in Halamish – who ran to the home when he heard the screams.

Netanyahu’s words echoed those of several ministers in the security cabinet who had called for the death penalty for al-Abed.

Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman said in an interview with Ynet that “in such an extreme case as this, there is certainly a place for the death sentence, and that is in the authority of the military court of Judea and Samaria.”

Israel’s pro-Death Penalty Ministers  – Wikimedia

“The option of the death penalty exists in military courts,” Education Minister Naftali Bennett said. “There is no need for legislation; just to ask. I call on the military prosecution to demand the death penalty for the terrorist that killed the Salomon family.”

Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, also of Bayit Yehudi, took to Twitter to say, “The murderers of children and families deserve the death penalty. This punishment exists in the military courts if there is consensus among the judges. This is a case that requires the death penalty for the murderer.”

At the time, Netanyahu said in a meeting of Likud ministers that the cabinet members should “behave responsibly.”

View original The Jerusalem Post publication at:
http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Netanyahu-says-killer-of-three-family-members-should-be-executed-500942