Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin said yesterday that the goverment will review the death penalty for terrorists convicted of capital crimes and will also consider reinstating selective deportations and administrative detentions to reduce terrorist activities.
Rabin addressed the subject in an Israel Radio press conference and at a meeting with the Likud party’s economic and defense policy forum here. He noted an increase in terrorist activity inside Israel but said he thought these were “individual” acts by residents of Israel or the West Bank with no outside direction.
Rabin recalled that deportation and administrative detention had been used by past Labor governments but was discontinued when the Likud-led government took power in 1977. Deportation is a punishment to be used sparingly and must be applied selectively, Rabin said. “But Israel’s enemies must be made to understand that deportation is an option, and one that can be employed swiftly.”
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