Cabinet Votes 7-5 for Death Penalty

The Cabinet voted 7-5 today in support of Premier Menachem Begin’s proposal to apply the death penalty for terrorists who commit crimes of extreme violence and cruelty. There was one abstention. Two of the dissenting votes were cost by Defense Minister Ezer Weizman and Agriculture Minister Ariel Sharon. Sharon, the most outspoken hawk in the Cabinet, reportedly argued against the death penalty on practical grounds. He was quoted as saying it would prejudice Jewish-Arab coexistence on the West Bank and called instead for a more aggressive “war” against the Palestine Liberation Organization and other terrorist groups.

The issue remains for the Knesset to decide. Labor Party chairman Shimon Peres and others are opposed to the death penalty and are expected to challenge the Cabinet decision when it comes up for debate. But most observers believe that a majority of the MKs will back the government’s position. The issue of capital punishment for terrorists arose in the aftermath of last Sunday’s attack on Nahariya which resulted in the deaths of four Israelis, two of them small children.

The outrage infuriated Israelis and many public figures, including Begin, Deputy Premier Yigael Yadin and Knesset Speaker Yitzhak Shamir spoke out in favor of the death penalty. Capital punishment is not outlawed by Israel’s legal statutes but, except in the case of Adolf Eichmann it has never been applied. The Cabinet’s decision today was to rescind a long-standing government order that barred prose cuting attorneys from requesting the death penalty. While the Cabinet was deliberating, a bomb exploded outside the Meir elementary school in Kfar Saba, slightly injuring three children. Police said the bomb was planted near a school bus.