Binyamin Terrorist Could Face Israel's First Death Penalty Under New Law
The terrorist who murdered Netanel Shakron in the Binyamin region faces the newly enacted death penalty law, sparking intense legal and political debate over its first possible implementation.
The terrorist who fatally shot Netanel Shakron at a spring in the Binyamin region and was captured in a Ramallah clinic following a manhunt is the first to whom the death penalty law for terrorists, finally approved by the Knesset six months ago, is supposed to apply. Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir, who promoted the law, already demanded "execution now"—but the path to that outcome remains long.
The law was approved last March despite fierce international opposition, reservations from domestic security agencies, and criticism from parts of the opposition. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu voted in favor, while Ben Gvir brought champagne and sweets to the plenum. In the country's history, the death penalty has only been used once, in the case of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann.
Legal Hurdles and Supreme Court Petitions
Petitions against the law were filed by left-wing and human rights organizations, but Supreme Court Justice Yechiel Kasher decided for now not to issue a freeze order. Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara has not yet responded to the petitions, a hearing has not yet been held, and petitioners can now request a second time for a freeze order so the law is not implemented before the High Court rules on the matter.
Because the government has not annexed the West Bank, the legal framework there for the Palestinian population differs. Under military jurisdiction laws in the region, it has long been legally permissible to hand down a death sentence to a terrorist who commits a murder as part of an act of terror in the West Bank—even without and prior to the new law. However, that option was never utilized.
Judicial Discretion and Practical Challenges
Unlike the previous situation where the death penalty was merely an option that went unused, the new law ostensibly obligates the military court judge to impose it. Yet this obligation is qualified, as the legislator left military judges the discretion to refrain from doing so "for special reasons to be recorded in the sentence." In other words, judges who have never handed down a death sentence will be able to continue doing so, only now they must explain why.
If a death sentence is indeed handed down and an appeal is filed, it will eventually reach the Supreme Court through the criminal appeals track. The High Court could then interpret how the law is applied, even if the law itself is not overturned.
Following the capture of the terrorist—Qadri Samara, a 37-year-id Hamas operative from the town of Biddu near Jerusalem—Minister Ben Gvir wrote: "This is the first case where the death penalty law for terrorists passed by Otzma Yehudit can be executed. In this case, there is a mandatory punishment, and therefore we demand to apply it and carry out the terrorist's execution."
"This is the law we passed, this is the law that allows the execution of the terrorist, and this is the opportunity. Execution now," stated Minister Itamar Ben Gvir following the capture.
Ultimately, the terrorist from the spring attack may become the first to be executed under the new legislation—or the first to bring about the de facto burial of the law.
