Arab terrorism has been rising not only in Gaza but also in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank). Terrorists are mounting deadly attacks with increasing frequency. Some believe this increase in terror is directly tied to lenient prison sentences meted out by the courts.
Even when the sentence is life in prison without the possibility of parole, terrorists understand that, in reality, they will remain in jail only until the next prisoner or hostage exchange. When such murderers are exchanged, they immediately return to terrorism, free to kill again. Yahya Sinwar was a perfect example of this.
Itamar Ben-Gvir, national security minister, has proposed a law that would extend the death penalty to any terrorist convicted of murdering Jews. Israel, of course, abolished the death penalty in 1954, reinstating it only once, in the case of the arch-Nazi Adolf Eichmann.
As everything in Israel is mired in controversy – two Jews, three opinions – this law calling for the execution of murderers is no exception.
In a recent opinion article in these pages, “Jewish reverence for life vs Ben-Gvir’s cheapening of life” (The Jerusalem Post, December 23, 2025), Yitz Greenberg, a prominent liberal American rabbi, argues that Ben-Gvir is besmirching the Jewish soul of the State of Israel by promoting the death penalty. Greenberg is especially irked by Ben-Gvir and some of his associates wearing a noose lapel pin.
For religious support, he quotes the often-cited Talmud, which states that in Talmudic Israel, the Sanhedrin seldom imposed capital punishment. If a Beit Din imposed it once in seven years – some argue once in 70 years – it was referred to as a “murderous court.”
What the good rabbi seems to overlook is that the Talmud in those references was dealing with ordinary criminals: Jews murdering Jews. It was not facing an assault on our citizens by a fanatical, terrorist army committed to our destruction.
Far from “cheapening” Jewish values by proposing death for such murderers, anyone familiar with traditional Jewish sources knows that it is the essence of Judaism that demands justice. No less than the Torah states: “Stand not idly by your brothers’ blood.” Greenberg admits that the Torah also instructs us, “Whoever spills the blood of a human shall have his blood spilled [as punishment], for the human being was made in God’s image” (Genesis 9:6).
Israel routinely carries out the extrajudicial killing of terrorist leaders
The Talmud also instructs us that “When someone comes to kill you, kill him first” (Sanhedrin 72a). Yes, Rabbi Greenberg, the Jewish religion is not to be confused with that of the Christians who preach “turn the other cheek.”
Israel routinely carries out the extrajudicial killing of terrorist leaders, Iranian atomic scientists, and those who killed Jews. Greenberg seems to have no problem with this. His ire seems to be aroused only when Ben-Gvir wants to execute murderers after a trial that affords them due process.
Rabbi Greenberg, in his customary style, picks and chooses the parts of the Halacha (Jewish law) that fit his liberal narrative. The rabbis in the Talmud sought to ensure that no innocent person was executed and advocated for stringent proof of guilt. This only attests to our commitment to social justice and in no way was it a plea for a blanket termination of the death penalty.
In fact, the rabbis admonish us against confusing mercy with justice, warning: “He who is compassionate to the cruel will ultimately become cruel to the compassionate” (Midrash Tanhuma, Portion of Mezora, 1; Yalkut Shimoni, I Samuel, Chapter 121).
Ben-Gvir is struggling with an untenable situation. The minister is trying to bridge the gap between the Israeli justice system and the political machinery that yields to public pressure to even release murderers in order to bring hostages home. He is attempting to end the insane conditions that created the bizarre experience Israel suffered by releasing more than a thousand prisoners for Gilad Schalit in 2015, including murderers like October 7 mastermind Sinwar.
While the death penalty may not deter the jihadist fanatics who have been inculcated from birth to hate the Jews and who desire to die as martyrs, it will certainly guarantee that they will not kill again after a duly deserved execution.
Eichmann was an extraordinary enemy of the Jews. After much debate, Israel showed courage and amended the law to execute him. Today, we are also living in extraordinary times. Desperate times call for desperate measures.
To further denigrate Ben-Gvir’s proposal, Greenberg recalls a debate he once had with Rabbi Meir Kahane 50 years ago. Sarcastically noting that Kahane was Ben-Gvir’s mentor, he says that the apple does not fall far from the tree. His memory of that disastrous debate with Kahane is also selective – and even “remembers” statements by the fiery JDL leader that he never made.
Greenberg advocated returning Judea, Samaria, and Gaza to the Arabs for the sake of peace. He hoped to see a two-state solution. After much ducking and dodging, he was forced to answer the question: Would he also return Jerusalem to the Arabs if a “reliable peace partner” stepped forward? His answer was yes: How naïve.
The rabbi’s ideas were wrong 50 years ago, and they remain wrong today.
Ben-Gvir is correct to advocate for the death penalty for the murderers of our people.
Dr. Alex Sternberg was the chief karate instructor of the JDL and was a Kahane confidant (1968–1972). He is the author of Recipes from Auschwitz: The Survival Stories of Two Hungarian Jews with Historical Insight and the forthcoming The Toughest Jew in Brooklyn: A Memoir.
David “Samson” Levine, MBA, was a JDL karate instructor and author of Revolutions: In Their Own Words – What They Really Say About Their Causes and the forthcoming Prayer: In Their Own Words – Islam–Catholicism–Judaism – What Do They Pray For?