Ben Gvir vows swift passage of bill on death penalty for terrorists

By Ariela Karmel

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10 November 2025, 4:18 pm

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Ariela Karmel is a political correspondent at The Times of Israel. She previously reported for Calcalist and Haaretz. She holds an MA in Middle Eastern and African History from Tel Aviv University and a BA in Political Science from the University of British Columbia.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir declares that his Otzma Yehudit party’s proposed death penalty bill for terrorists will move “swiftly and without compromise” through the Knesset, ahead of the bill’s first reading later today.

Speaking to reporters before a meeting of his faction, Ben Gvir says that the controversial legislation, which would mandate courts to impose the death penalty on those who have committed a nationalistically motivated murder of a citizen of Israel, will deter terrorism and end what he calls the “ritual” of kidnapping of Israelis to secure prisoner releases.

He urges all coalition parties and “Zionist” opposition parties to back the bill, while accusing Arab lawmakers Ahmad Tibi, Mansour Abbas and Ayman Odeh, who oppose it, of “defending terrorists.”

Ben Gvir says his bill will pass, despite reports that the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party will vote against it. He claims that the majority of UTJ’s constituents support his bill, regardless of what their leadership states.