Bereaved
families: 'We must prevent the next murder'
'Choose Life'
forum of bereaved families at Yisrael Beytenu meeting on death penalty for
terrorists: 'Do everything to prevent terror'
Mordechai
Sones, 25/12/17 17:41
Representatives
of the "Choose Life" forum of bereaved families were hosted today at
a Yisrael Beytenu party meeting.
The meeting
dealt with promoting the terrorist death penalty bill
the faction is sponsoring together with Choose Life forum members.
The Choose
Life forum of bereaved families was established two years ago and includes more
than 100 bereaved families, many from the last wave of terror attacks.
Among forum
members are non-Jewish bereaved families such as that of Yosef Osman, who lost
their son in a terror attack
on Har Adar.
The family
forum's goal is to promote "deterrence
packages" against terrorists to prevent the next attack. The families
demand the death penalty be extended to terrorists, which the Prime Minister
and the Defense Minister agreed to advance, as well as cessation of terrorists'
good living conditions in the prisons.
Devorah
Gonen, one of the heads of the bereaved families forum, whose son was murdered
in a terror attack, said at the start of the Yisrael Beytenu meeting: "Danny was murdered for one reason only: because he was
a Jew. A model child, one of the best sons of this land. He loved the Land and
was attached to it with all his soul. A man of truth, integrity, and especially
a man of choices, each of which aimed to benefit society and life."
"We
want to thank you, Minister of Defense, for inviting us. I'm sure it's not a
simple task to commit before bereaved families, to Im Tirtzu and the
entire Jewish people, to promote the final amendment to the death penalty for
terrorists," added Gonen.
"I
want to state and emphasize that no-one wants to promote a death sentence for
terrorists for the sake of punishment, but to create a real deterrent, one that will convince the next
murderer to abandon the act of terror and death. To prevent the next murder is
all we ask," she said.
The only way
to prevent the next murder, she said, is to pass a law that imposes the death
penalty on terrorists. "A terrorist can not enter
the home of an innocent family and murder a father, a son, and a daughter, or
seriously injure the mother of the family and then be transferred to the
Terrorists' Hotel in an Israeli prison. This approach paves the way for the
next murder because it is not discouraging at all and some say it's even
encouraging. We must not wait for the next murder, but do everything to prevent
it. This is the meaning of the death sentence for terrorists, and I hope and
expect that even before this legislation, the Defense Minister will seek to
impose the punishment in its present form in the trial against the barbaric
murderer who slaughtered the Solomon family in their home on a Friday
night."
"The
State of Israel is under constant terror attack and only the amazing capabilities
of the security forces have prevented hundreds of serious attacks in the past
year," said Matan Peleg, head of the Im Tirtzu Zionist
campus movement.
"This
fact proves that the terror industry is still active and the only way to curb
it is by creating a real deterrent package including the death penalty for the
terrorists, expulsion of terrorist's families to Gaza, demolition of their
homes, and revocation of their prison rights. Then there will be a real chance
to stop the murder industry. This is not revenge and not justice; it is a step
aimed at convincing the potential terrorist to abandon the terror attack,"
Peleg added.
INTERNET SOURCE: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/239795
If the bill passes, slain soldier Ron Kokia's murderers may face the death penalty (Photo: Ilana Curiel) |
Bereaved families push for death sentence for
terrorists bill
Defense
Minister Lieberman's bill seeking capital punishment for convicted terrorists
may be put to the Knesset vote this week having garnered coalition support;
backing the bill, families of terror victims push for 'deterrence package' that
includes prison condition degradation, but AG opposes bill, claims penalty does
not deter terrorists.
Elisha
Ben Kimon, Moran Azulay and Ilana Curiel|Published: 25.12.17 , 12:09
The bill
calling to sentence terrorists to death, a flagship piece of legislation for
the Yisrael Beytenu party and also enshrined in coalition agreements, was
approved last week in a forum of coalition party leaders, paving the way for
its expected vote at the Knesset plenum vote this week.
The bill
may reach the Knesset as early as this Wednesday if enough time remains after
the vote on the Recommendations Law.
While no
coalition dissent is expected, the opposition has criticized the possible law,
reminding its proponents that a military tribunal can already sentence to death
anyone convicted of terrorism if the judges decide unanimously on the verdict,
thereby rendering the law moot.
Yisrael
Beytenu countered the claim, however, by saying the bill allowed tribunals to
sentence terrorists to death with a simple majority vote, while also allowing
civilian courts to do the same.
Two
people who may be affected by the bill's passage are Khaled Abu Jaudah and his
half-brother Zahi Abu Jaudah, two Bedouin from Kuseife who were indicted Sunday
morning for the murder of IDF soldier Ron Kokia in Arad a month ago.
The
Jaudah family disavowed the two suspects and was not present at their court
date. One of Zahi's relatives said, "He wasn't in on it. He was forced to
help his brother."
"It's
hard for us. We're friends with Jews and were completely blindsided by their
arrest. Khaled is an educated young man, it's really not clear what happened.
Their father is in complete shock," said another relative.
Boaz, the
father of the slain soldier, was present at the hearing and let loose on the
defendants following the court's ruling with a verbal onslaught.
"If
you were in my hands I'd slaughter you. We want to know who murdered our son.
I'll look them in the eye and make sure they die," Boaz said.
"I
call on the court to deal with the murderers and their families, which
contributed to the act by their criminal conduct, harshly. It's important, both
because we—as the victim's family—deserve justice and to deter other potential
murderers. Beyond the death sentence I think the murderers deserve, or at least
a prolonged prison term, punishment should also be financial, such as
revocation of rights or reimbursing the state for the expenses and damages done
to it because of the murder," the
grieving father said.
Other
families who have lost loved ones to terrorism joined Boaz Kokia's call. Hadas
Mizrachi, the widow of Commander Baruch Mizrahi who was murdered in an attack
that took place on Passover eve in Kiryat Arba three years ago, told Ynet,
"Ron Kokia's father's cry must be heard at the offices of decision makers.
"The
time has come for the death of innocents to be answered in kind. We call on the
government's ministers to support the bill authorizing the execution of those
who have murdered our loved ones. The State of Israel must create a real,
significant deterrence against terrorism raging in the streets."
Michal
Salomon, who lost three family members in a Halamish terror attack several
months ago, said, "A despicable murderer who took
a life must forfeit his. That is the only way of reducing the chance of them
murdering again to zero. This punishment is only part of the deterrence
package. Conditions in jails should also be changed for the worse for those
killers."
'Put a stop to the murder industry'
The
bereaved families' "Choose Life" forum was created two years ago and
counts more than 100 families as members, mostly, though not exclusively, from
the last wave of terror.
Among the
families belonging to the forum are also non-Jewish bereaved families, such as
the family of Yosef Othman, who was murdered in the Har Adar terrorist attack
this past September.
The
forum's goal is to help promote the aforementioned "deterrence
package" against terrorists in an attempt to prevent further attacks. The
families are supporting the death penalty bill while also seeking degradation
in the conditions enjoyed by incarcerated terrorists.
Chairman
of the right-wing Im Tirzu movement Matan Peleg, whose organizations
accompanied the Choose Life Forum, said, "The State of Israel is under a
permanent terror attack and only the wondrous abilities of security forces
stopped hundreds of attacks from succeeding in the past year. The only way to
stop the industry of terror is by creating a real deterrence package, with
death penalty as its crowning jewel. When the package also includes deporting
their families to Gaza, demolishing their homes and revoking their prison
benefits, then the murder industry may be stopped."
Attorney
General Avichai Mandelblit is opposed to the death penalty bill for terrorists,
as he opposed a previous bill floated by Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked to
sentence child murderers to death.
Mandelblit's
stance mirrors those of all previous attorneys general, who have opposed the
death penalty since Israel's inception despite its existence in both civil and
military law.
The
attorney general's original opinion, submitted to Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu and members of the Ministerial Committee for Legislation over a year
ago following then-MK Lieberman's proposal, determined the death penalty was
not a deterrent when it came to terrorists.
The
judicial system maintains a clear and present trend among the countries in the
developed world is to abolish the death penalty.
"More
than two thirds of the world's countries have abolished capital punishment. In
the European Union, for instance, it's completely banned," judiciary
sources said.
The only
Western country to still carry out death sentence is the United States.
"But even there, states have begun abolishing it, with only 31 states having
capital punishment on their books today. Seven states abolished it in the past
decade alone," the source said.
https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5061576,00.html
https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5061576,00.html
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