Free Republic

Negotiators from the Likud and Yisrael Beytenu parties have agreed to accept the latter’s demands for the death penalty for terrorist murderers, as a condition for entering the coalition government. According to the agreement, the IDF military court — which is technically able to level the death penalty, but maintains an unofficial moratorium on it — will be issued new instructions, by which a simple majority of two judges can hand down a death sentence to terrorists convicted of murder. Currently, the law requires all three judges to unanimously agree. …

Former Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein has roundly condemned the reported agreement between the Likud and Yisrael Beytenu parties, to include provisions for implementing the death penalty for terrorists as part of a coalition deal. Under the agreement, a new directive will be issued to military courts, by which only a simply majority of two judges will be needed to sentence a terrorist murderer to death, as opposed to the unanimous requirement currently in place. Imposing a death penalty for terrorist killers was one of the key conditions set by Yisrael Beytenu head Avigdor Liberman for entering the governing coalition. While...