After opposing capital punishment over the years, PM tells Salomon family (Thursday July 27, 2017), who lost three members in terror attack in Halamish, that it's time 'to wipe the smile off the terrorist's face'; while military law allows it, the government needs to change its policy on the matter to enable judges to hand down such a sentence.
"It's time we start giving death sentences to terrorists," the prime minister told the mourning family. "It's enshrined in law, it requires a unanimous decision by the judges, but they also want to know the government's position. And my position as the prime minister, in this instance of such a heinous murderer—he needs to be executed. We need to wipe the smile off his face."– Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, changed from an opponent to supporter of capital punishment
Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) pays a condolence call to the family of Rabbi
Achiad Ettinger in the West Bank settlement of Eli, March 19, 2019 (Haim
Zach/GPO)
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VICTIM'S DAUGHTER: MONSTER CANNOT CONTINUE TO WALK AMONG US
Netanyahu to
slain rabbi’s family: We’ll seek to enact death penalty for terror
But PM says legislation ‘not promising’ and ‘we don’t determine the punishment’; relatives of Achiad Ettinger accuse IDF soldiers of failing to open fire at terrorist
But PM says legislation ‘not promising’ and ‘we don’t determine the punishment’; relatives of Achiad Ettinger accuse IDF soldiers of failing to open fire at terrorist
By TOI STAFF
Today, 5:19
pm 3
Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on
Tuesday paid a condolence call to the family of Rabbi Achiad Ettinger, who was
killed in a combined shooting and stabbing terror attack in the northern West
Bank on Sunday.
During the
visit in the central West Bank settlement of Eli, Netanyahu told the bereaved
family he would attempt to legislate the death penalty for terrorists in Israel.
“It’s not promising, it’s not promising,” he added, according to footage from
the visit.
Ettinger, a
47-year-old father of 12, succumbed to his injuries on Monday, a day after the
attack that began at Ariel Junction, in which IDF soldier Gal Keidan, 19, was
also killed.
According to
Israeli authorities, after fatally stabbing Keidan, the suspect, who has been
named as Omar Abu Laila, 18, grabbed his gun and opened fire at passing
vehicles, hitting Ettinger. He then stole a vehicle and drove to the nearby
Gitai junction, where he opened fire again, wounding IDF soldier Alexander
Dvorsky. The terrorist remains at large.
Efrat
Ettinger, the victim’s daughter, told Netanyahu that terrorists who carry out
deadly attacks should not be allowed to live.
“I
think that a person who makes a decision to take such action — it must be clear
that he will die,” she said. “A monster like
this cannot continue to walk among us.”
“Terrorists are inciting, and want to kick us out of
here. I promise they won’t be successful.” – Benjamin Netanyahu
[PHOTO SOURCE: https://au.pinterest.com/ojarman/benjamin-netanyahu/]
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In response,
Netanyahu emphasized his government’s attempts to advance the death penalty for
convicted terrorists.
Although the
death penalty formally exists in Israeli law, it has only ever been used once —
in 1962 in the case of Nazi officer Adolf Eichmann, one of the architects of
the Holocaust. It is technically allowed in cases of high treason, as well as
in certain circumstances under the martial law that applies within the IDF and
in the West Bank, but currently requires a unanimous decision from a panel of
three judges, and has never been implemented.
“We’ve
identified the three-judge restriction that exists [in the law],”
Netanyahu told Efrat Ettinger. “We don’t determine the
punishment. We will try to reduce the need for three judges.”
“It’s
not promising, It’s not promising,” he added, apparently in the
first public acknowledgement that legislation faces significant obstacles.
“It would be better to drown these prisoners in
the Dead Sea if possible, since that's the lowest point in the world.” - Avigdor
Lieberman
[PHOTO SOURCE: http://www.azquotes.com/quote/898391
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Legislation
that would have expanded the use of the death penalty in terror cases failed to
advance late last year amid political wrangling after Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman, who had been
pushing the bill, left the coalition.
Netanyahu,
who as defense minister oversees the military prosecution, backed the death
penalty bill in November. He also called for the death penalty after a 2017
terror attack in which several members of a family were knifed to death inside
their home in the West Bank settlement of Halamish.
However, the
legislation has been opposed by security officials, including Shin Bet chief
Nadav Argaman who called it “unhelpful” when testifying before the Knesset
panel in November.
During the
visit, Netanyahu was also confronted by relatives of Achiad Ettinger over IDF
soldiers’ alleged hesitation to respond at the scene of the terror attack,
after reports emerged that several servicemen failed to open fire. The army
said it was investigating.
“I
want soldiers to act properly, not as the media says,” said Rachel
Ettinger, the sister of the slain rabbi. “How they
reacted in the terror attack — this is the result of hesitation.”
Netanyahu
replied by expressing hope that assessment “was no longer true,” adding that
“there is something very important in your words.”
Relatives
told reporters Sunday that Ettinger turned his car around after being shot and
managed to fire four bullets in the direction of the Palestinian terrorist,
causing him to flee the scene rather than target others. The IDF has been
unable to corroborate the account, which was not picked up by security cameras
at the scene.
Also Tuesday,
Netanyahu visited the nearby ancient Shilo national site, along with former Arkansas
Gov. Mike Huckabee.
“I am very
excited to be here. I came here for the first time in 1967, right after the Six
Day War, as a young soldier. I remember that during navigational exercises, I
went to Tel Shilo to see ancient Shilo, the capital of Israel,” said Netanyahu.
INTERNET
SOURCE: https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-to-slain-rabbis-family-well-seek-to-enact-death-penalty-for-terror/
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Netanyahu Tells
Ettingers Will Seek Death Penalty for Terrorists
By Hamodia Staff
Tuesday, March 19,
2019 at 2:12 pm | י"ב אדר ב' תשע"ט
Israeli Prime Minister
Binyamin Netanyahu told the Ettinger family that he will seek the death penalty
for terrorists, in a condolence visit on Tuesday.
Rabbi Achiad Ettinger Hy”d, a well-known educator and
father of 12, was killed in a shooting attack on Sunday at the Ariel Junction
in the Shomron.
During the visit, in the
community of Eli, Netanyahu told the bereaved family:
“The shock is enormous. From
what I have heard about Achiad, he was an amazing person, a man of valor with
nobility of soul. The pain over your loss is immense; I understand how deep it
is. But I want you to know that it is a shock to the heart of the entire
people.”
Kim Levengrond Yehezkel and
Ziv Hagbi's families and relatives [Photo: Zvika Tishler]
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Efrat Ettinger, a daughter
of Rabbi Achiad, told the prime minister that “it’s impossible that a terrorist
commits such an act and comes out alive.”
While speaking about enactment
of the death penalty, Netanyahu cautioned that this won’t happen “in a day,” Ynet reported.
She responded: “That’s
what they say at every condolence call after an incident like this and it
doesn’t happen. It’s just talk.”
Netanyahu’s response was
not reported.
Ettinger’s mother, Carmit,
told the PM she hopes the government will reinforce troop presence in Yehudah
and Shomron, which she said has dwindled recently. “This is our country,” she says. “While traveling
after recent events we haven’t felt safe. See what you can do to help those who
live here.”
Benjamin Netanyahu against Hamas
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The prime minister
replied: “A few days ago, we destroyed the [Hamas] headquarters in Gaza to
the ground. What we have here is something else.
INTERNET SOURCE: https://hamodia.com/2019/03/19/netanyahu-tells-ettingers-will-seek-death-penalty-terrorists/
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