Advocating Against the Death Penalty After the Bondi Beach Hanukkah Massacre

Some individuals have indicated that it is poor timing to advocate against the death penalty in the wake of the Bondi Beach Hanukkah massacre. The thousands of members of “L’chaim! Jews Against the Death Penalty” feel otherwise. There is no more appropriate moment than now to ensure that members of the Knesset in Israel vote against the abominable bill before them that calls for the death penalty for terrorists. With the second and third readings of this monstrosity soon to take place, public debate over this crucial issue must occur immediately. Experience and history have tragically taught that delayed discussion or silence is tantamount to tacit approval. As Hillel the Elder famously posed the rhetorical question: “If not now, when?” (Pirkei Avot, 1: 14)

The desire for vengeance is understandably visceral against those who would carry out such antisemitic terror attacks as the slaughter on October 7, 2023, in the Gaza envelope and on December 13, 2025, in Sydney, Australia. The horrific massacre at Bondi Beach has, as expected, led to renewed calls for the death penalty for terrorists in Israel and across the world. One commenter on Facebook wrote: “Israel, Australia, the United States, and France should adopt a mandatory death penalty for terrorism. Just like Saudi Arabia has laws against drug use and apostasy. Especially France after Charlie Hebdo/Bataclan/Nice attacks, Australia after the Bondi Beach attack, Israel after Oct 7 2023, and the US after the Thanksgiving 2025 Washington shooting. From trial to public hanging, it’s supposed to be 10 weeks.”

If left unchecked, such irrational, overpowering feelings could bring moral disaster. Jewish sources time and again teach that in a moment of irascibility, one can do or say things that one may regret for a lifetime. All spiritual traditions preach similar approaches to anger and the desire for revenge. Ali Abu Talib ibn Abd al-Muttalib, the uncle of the Prophet Muhammad, famously wrote that “one moment of patience, in a moment of anger, can save a thousand moments of regret.” Failing to heed this sage counsel from our spiritual traditions lends victory to extremist forces on all sides, including the perpetrators of any acts of terror.

Promoting the value of life elevates the life-saving efforts of individuals from all faith backgrounds during the Bondi shooting. This includes 30-year-old Jewish hero Gefen Bitton – now in a coma – and 43-year-old  Muslim father and hero Ahmed al-Ahmed,  both of whom were injured while disarming a shooter at the Menorah lighting at Bondi.  It comprises, as well, Chaya, the Jewish 14-year-old who shielded younger children in danger, even after having been shot, and Rabbi Leibel Lazaroff, who was wounded while running toward the threat to defend the targets of the shooters. It also encompasses murder victims of the attack, such as Holocaust survivor Alex Klaytman, who was gunned down while shielding the life of his beloved wife. The list of heroes doing all they can to protect lives goes on. Their efforts call to mind the value of life that both Jewish and Muslim spiritual traditions sanctify. The Talmud (Jewish Oral Law) Sanhedrin 4:5 teaches: “Whoever destroys a life, it is considered as if he destroyed an entire world. And whoever saves a life, it is considered as if he saved an entire world.” Likewise, in the Qur’an, Surah Al-Ma’idah 32 instructs: “Whoever saves a life, it will be as if they saved all of humanity.” 

Muslim, Jewish and Christian members of the inspiring peace organization Combatants for Peace amplified this shared affirmation of life by demonstrating visibly and vocally at a recent rally in Beit Jala. They carried signs emphasizing the principle of “K’dushat HaChayyim” – the inviolable sacredness of life, mirroring the human right to life that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights enshrines. Protestors unequivocally called upon Israelis to say “No to the Death Penalty.” By organizing this event and invoking the right to life for all human beings, Combatants for Peace confirmed its stance as a beacon for all Israelis.

Similarly, this author recently had the profound honor of representing the thousands of members of  L’chaim! Jews Against the Death Penalty at a powerful gathering of Israeli and Jewish human rights groups for a webinar focused on the proposed bill to impose the death penalty on non-Jewish terrorists. Rabbis for Human Rights in Israel (RHR), T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, and the Association for Civil Rights in Israel hosted the online Hanukkah event titled “We Will Drive out the Darkness by Increasing the Light.” Rabbi Avi Dabush, the Executive Director of RHR, and Rabbi Kobi Weiss of RHR – who passionately spoke against the bill in the Knesset recently – were joined by Attorney Elza Bugnet of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel and Rabbi Jill Jacobs, the Executive Director of T’ruah for a most enlightening conversation that framed the discussion about the death penalty within Jewish law and the lighting of the Hanukkah candles. The title of the webinar recalled the famous quote by The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in his 1963 work Loving Your Enemies, Strength to Love, in which he wrote: “Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.” My own contribution was to speak to L’chaim’s role in working against the death penalty in the United States, focusing on our recent op-ed entitled “8 Reasons to Vote Against the Death Penalty this Hanukkah.”

The message and consensus from both of these gatherings was clear: there is no place for the death penalty in Israel, nor in any civilized society. The threat of execution would not have stopped the perpetrators of the heinous massacre at Bondi Beach, nor any other incomprehensible, murderous act of the past, present, or future. The fear of capital punishment would not have deterred terrorist acts on October 7, 2023, just as it did not deter the Pittsburgh Tree of Life Shooter, who now faces execution. Meta-studies have concluded time and again that when it comes to deterrence, there is no demonstrable link between the presence or absence of the death penalty and murder rates. As renowned anesthesiologist Dr. Joel Zivot has reminded the world, “Israel’s death penalty would bring darkness, not deterrence.” Supporters of capital punishment invoke deterrence as a veil for what truly underlies the desire for executions: vengeance.

May the shining lights of organizations like Combatants for Peace, Rabbis for Human Rights, and T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, among many others, continue to illuminate the values of restorative justice and non-violence this Hanukkah in the hearts and minds of the citizens of Israel as they ponder this most sacred question before them now: that of life and death.

And may we all choose life…

L’chaim!

Cantor Michael J. Zoosman, MSM, BCC

Co-Founder: L’chaim! Jews Against the Death Penalty

Advisory Committee Member: Death Penalty Action