Minister calls for death penalty for Halamish killer
Yisrael Katz says Israel already has legislation in place that would allow a military court to impose the measure
Israel’s intelligence minister said Saturday that he would push for the death penalty for the 19-year-old Palestinian terrorist who stabbed to death three Israelis as they celebrated their Sabbath meal.
Yisrael Katz said that Israel’s military court system already had statutes in place for the death penalty in cases like this.
“We need to use the option that we have in military rule and I call on the military prosecutor to demand the death penalty,” Katz told Channel 2 TV.
In Israel, the death penalty is applicable only in limited circumstances, and has only been carried out once, in 1962, against the Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann, one of the architects of the Final Solution.
But Katz said it was permissible under existing military law that applies to Palestinians in the West Bank.
“There was recent discussion and the attorney general said it is a possibility. I think that the security establishment should aim for this,” he said, adding that he would push for this in cabinet meetings.
The Knesset has several times rejected legislation that would apply the death penalty to Palestinian terrorists.
On Friday evening, 19-year-old Omar al-Abed, from a nearby village, burst in to the Salomon family’s house at the Halamish settlement armed with a large knife and stabbed to death Yosef Salomon, 70, his daughter Chaya Salomon, 46, and son Elad Salomon, 36. Yosef’s wife Tova, 68, was seriously hurt.
A neighbor, who serves in an elite IDF unit, heard the cries and rushed over, shooting and wounding the terrorist through the window of the house. On Saturday afternoon Abed was released from hospital and handed over to the security services for questioning.
The army said it appeared Abed had posted a Facebook post detailing his intention as he walked toward the community. Before crossing the fence, he apparently performed some type of purification ritual, anticipating he would be killed. Empty water bottles and a Quran were found at the site.
In initial questioning, Abed said he bought the knife two days ago, wanting to commit a terror attack because of events surrounding the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
Upgraded Israeli security measures at the Temple Mount were introduced after three Arab Israelis shot dead two Israeli police officers on duty there on July 14, using guns they had smuggled into the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Meanwhile IDF forces early Saturday morning raided the home of Abed and arrested his brother.
Troops were searching the village of Kobar for weaponry and suspects. They also mapped the Abed’s family home in preparation for its likely demolition. An army official told Ynet the 19-year-old terrorist’s parents were known to be affiliated with the Hamas terror group. Hamas hailed the attack late Friday as “heroic.”
The Times of Israel Community.