Ben Gvir urges Israelis to arm themselves, pushes death penalty after fatal ramming-stabbing attack

Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir calls on Israelis to arm themselves and pushed for the death penalty for terrorists while speaking to the press at the scene of the deadly attack in northern Israel earlier today.

“I call on the citizens of Israel: arm yourselves,” Ben Gvir urges.

Ben Gvir says the ramming and stabbing attack, in which two people were killed and at least two others wounded, proved that “weapons save lives,” pointing to the fact that the attacker was shot and neutralized by a civilian passerby. He further encourages Israelis to take advantage of eased gun licensing criteria to join civilian emergency response squads.

“The second thing that I believe will save even more lives is a law imposing the death penalty for terrorists,” he adds, arguing that attackers do not seek to die but to survive and serve prison sentences.

“We must pass a death penalty law for terrorists, and I am doing everything to make that happen.”

אנחנו מתפללים על המשפחות, מתפללים על הפצועים. אני באתי לכאן לחבק את תושבי עפולה, תושבי בית שאן, תושבי העמק.

אני חושב שהוכח שוב שנשק מציל חיים, המדיניות הזאת שגם הקפיצה 20 כיתות כוננות שגרמה לכך שאנשים מסתובבים עם נשק, שאיש כוחות ביטחון מנטרל את אותו מחבל – היא מדיניות חשובה.… pic.twitter.com/fS0XsrMISn

— איתמר בן גביר (@itamarbengvir) December 26, 2025

Ben Gvir heads the Otzma Yehudit, which is attempting to pass a bill allowing those convicted in deadly terror attacks to be put to death. Currently, capital punishment is reserved for extremely rare cases and has only been used a single time in the country’s history, the 1962 hanging of Nazi officer Adolf Eichmann, one of the architects of the Holocaust.

He concludes by praising the security forces that responded to the ramming and stabbing attack, also emphasizing that he is praying for the victims’ families and for the recovery of the wounded.