Ben Gvir demands terrorist behind deadly shooting attack at West Bank spring be executed

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir demands that the Palestinian terrorist who killed an Israeli man at a natural spring in the central West Bank today be put to death in accordance with a law the Knesset passed in March.

“This is the first instance in which the ‘death sentence for terrorists’ law can be put into action,” Ben Gvir says in a statement. “In this case, there’s a mandatory penalty. A law is a law.”

The law, which was championed by Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit party, requires that people convicted of deadly terrorist acts who are prosecuted in a military court must be put to death unless the court finds special circumstances allowing for life imprisonment.

The legislation effectively enshrines capital punishment for West Bank Palestinians alone, as it explicitly excludes Israeli citizens or residents, and only Palestinians are tried in military courts.