From the Liveblog of
Monday, November 10, 2025
Yisrael Beytenu MK backs death penalty for terror: ‘Our goal is to create a true deterrent’
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"
Addressing lawmakers, Yisrael Beytenu MK Oded Forer calls for the Knesset to support his own bill seeking the death penalty for terrorists.
Noting that former Palestinian police officer Raed Sheikh, who was part of a Palestinian mob that lynched two Israelis in a Ramallah police station in 2000, was freed as part of the recent hostage release and ceasefire deal, Forer calls the passage of a death penalty law “an issue that directly concerns Israel’s security.”
“Our goal is to create a true deterrent [and] not a process in which we tell terrorists: ‘Go ahead and murder — you’ll be caught and later freed in another deal,'” he says.
“Had this law been approved before October 2023, maybe someone would have thought twice before doing what they did. Unfortunately, I can’t tell you I’m certain this proposal will reach its second and third readings. I’ve already seen the prime minister stop this legislation several times,” Forer continues.
“But I hope — and I say this as an opposition [lawmaker] — that this bill that I submitted will be approved today in its first reading. Yet it’s not enough to approve it once; we must move quickly to the second and third readings, and complete the legislation, so that every participant in acts of terror knows his fate will not be among the living.”
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