Relatives of some of the approximately 240 Hamas hostages argued this Monday at the parliamentary committee on national security that the death penalty in Israel should not be extended to terrorists captured in the current war, claiming that merely talking about the issue could endanger. the lives of the hostages. Statements that provoked a virulent reaction from far-right deputies, and the condemnation of this attitude and its timing from various political quarters, from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud to opposition parties.
“[Este alargamento da lei] it would mean playing along with their mind games. And in return we would receive photos of our murdered loved ones, with the State of Israel and not them [Hamas] to be guilty of this. Do not continue with this until they return. Do not put my sister’s blood on your hands,” Yarden Gonen, whose sister Rosi is a hostage, said in the Israeli Parliament (Knesset) in a speech to National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and his colleagues from Otzma Yehudit – this The far-right party submitted a bill to this end, which was approved in a preparatory phase in March, but has since stalled. Gil Dikman, whose cousin was kidnapped by Hamas, made the same request to Ben-Gvir.” You should not take advantage of our suffering now,” he said. “Stop talking about killing Arabs, start talking about saving the Jews,” defended the relative of another hostage.
Calls that did not resonate among Otzma Yehudit’s deputies, but rather fiery responses. “You don’t have a monopoly on suffering,” shouted Rep. Almog Cohen, a former police officer. “You are silencing other families,” deputy Limor Son-Har Melech said, stressing that she has been trying to promote this law for 20 years, ever since her husband was killed in a terrorist attack. The coalition’s parliamentary leader, Ofir Katz (Likud), promised that the law will not be brought to the plenary for a vote.
Following this incident, Education Minister Yoav Kisch, who belongs to the Likud, said it was “unnecessary” and that it “harms the war effort, especially the families of the hostages, who are going through their most difficult hours.” “Stop getting involved in petty politics,” he said. The Minister of Sports and Culture, Miki Zohar (Likud), recalled that he was in favor of extending the death penalty to terrorists, but argued that this was not the time for this discussion. “We just have to focus on winning and bringing the hostages home.”
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) criticized the extremists who are part of the ruling coalition, saying that the discussion they held in the Knesset was “shameful, a shame and a terrible insult not only to the families of the hostages, but also to the State of Israel for all.” ‘The families of the hostages cry for their pain and for the pain of an entire nation. There are no limits to the stupidity and shamelessness of the coalition members who preached to the families. What Almog Cohen did today will be remembered forever. ashamed.”
Avigdor Lieberman, leader of the far-right Yisrael Beiteinu, assured that his party (in opposition) continues to support the death penalty in cases of terrorism, but admitted that Monday’s discussion was inappropriate. “Obviously there was no reason for this discussion today,” Lieberman said.
The leader of Shas, one of the members of the government, also opposed the current discussion on expanding the death penalty, arguing that “those who make political considerations for political actions cause great injustice to the people of Israel, they harm the soldiers of the IDF and the victorious power of the people of Israel.” “We will decide all the policies later. We have a big task ahead of us and we must be united,” Arye Dery said.
A source involved in the negotiations with Hamas told Israeli newspaper Haaretz that the terrorist organization had expressed a desire to increase the number of hostages it was willing to release, but that no agreement had yet been reached on the exact number and their identity, and that the talks between Israel and Hamas were still ongoing. The Washington Post reported on Sunday that the two sides were on the brink of an agreement, with the support of the United States, on the release of kidnapped women and children in exchange for a five-day break in the fighting.
Source: DN
