AhlulBayt News Agency: Far-right Israeli security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has threatened to pull his party’s support from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition unless legislation to impose the death penalty on Palestinian prisoners is advanced.
Speaking during a meeting of his Otzma Yehudit faction in the Knesset, Ben-Gvir warned that his party would boycott all coalition votes if the bill is not brought forward within three weeks.
“If the death penalty law is not brought to a vote within three weeks, Otzma Yehudit will not participate in votes on coalition bills,” he stated.
Ben-Gvir accused Netanyahu’s Likud party of violating the coalition agreement, which he claimed included a pledge to pass the death penalty law during the current Knesset term.
He criticized the Israeli prime minister for offering repeated “excuses” to delay the bill—first before the Gaza war, and then during it.
“After the war began, they said the law might endanger the kidnapped soldiers,” Ben-Gvir said. “But now, with the return of the living captives, that excuse is no longer valid.”
He argued that implementing the death penalty would serve as “a significant lever of pressure on Hamas” and should be part of Israel’s strategic arsenal in its war against the Palestinian resistance.
According to human rights groups, more than 80 Palestinians have died in Israeli custody since October 7, 2023.
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