From the Liveblog of
Monday, November 10, 2025
Gafni slams Ben Gvir, Liberman over claim of deal with Arab MKs over terrorist death penalty bill
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleSam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Degel HaTorah chairman Moshe Gafni slams National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Yisrael Beytenu chief Avigdor Liberman after the two right-wing politicians accuse him of opposing the death penalty for terrorists who kill Israelis due to a political deal with Arab MKs.
“Avigdor Lieberman and Itamar Ben Gvir do not know how to contend with Degel HaTorah’s stance and worldview opposing the death penalty law for terrorists, and they blame it on agreements that never existed. Their personal attacks reflect a lack of serious arguments,” Gafni declares.
Earlier today, a spokesman for Degel HaTorah spiritual leader Rabbi Dov Lando said that he had instructed the faction’s lawmakers to vote against a government-backed bill that would impose the death penalty on terrorists who kill Israelis in the Knesset plenum this afternoon.
Degel HaTorah is one of two factions comprising the larger United Torah Judaism party. The party’s other faction, Agudat Yisrael, has not yet publicly announced a position nor has fellow ultra-Orthodox party Shas.
Following this morning’s announcement, Ben Gvir accused Gafni of having “once again chosen his old alliance with [Ahmad] Tibi,” one of the leaders of the Arab-majority Hadash-Ta’al party.
“There will be no forgiveness for anyone who keeps the terrorists, those human beasts, from ascending the gallows,” he later tweeted.
In a separate statement, Liberman, whose party supports the death penalty for terrorists and has a similar bill on today’s Knesset agenda, accused Haredi politicians of hiding behind their rabbis “every time they want to escape responsibility.”
“This is a fraud. These wheeler-dealer politicians who don’t want a conscription law and hide behind the ‘rabbis’ have now struck a deal with Tibi and Cassif against the death penalty law for terrorists that Yisrael Beiteinu is bringing to a vote today,” he states. Ofir Cassif is the only Jewish member of Hadash-Ta’al.
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