A gasoline bomb attack that killed an Israeli woman and her three small children near Jericho two weeks ago may result in the death penalty being applied to terrorists.
The Cabinet set up a ministerial committee Sunday to deal with the controversial issue.
It will be headed by the defense minister and will include the foreign minister and justice minister. The Cabinet’s resolution also calls for the participation of the attorney general.
The judge advocate general, the chief legal officer of the military, could, after consultation with the ministerial panel, demand the death penalty for a particularly heinous terrorist crime, with good chances that it would be applied.
Capital punishment for terrorists is allowable under Israeli law. But military prosecutors have avoided it, in part for fear of the consequences that would befall Israeli soldiers or civilians captured by terrorist organizations.
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