‘Death to the Terrorists’
Following the horrific and barbaric events of October 7, there are those in Israel calling for terrorists who have been caught to be put on trial and, if found guilty, sentenced to death.
Last month the Knesset’s National Security Committee approved the preparation of legislation to enable terrorists to be executed.
The only time that a death sentence was ever carried out in Israel was following the capture of Adolf Eichmann, who was executed by hanging in Ramla prison in 1962.
There are a number of offenses referred to in the Torah for which the punishment is death, and the Talmud refers to a variety of means of carrying out the execution including stoning, burning by ingesting molten lead, strangling and beheading. However, the rabbis of that period were reluctant to do so.
The Talmud demanded rigorous proof and instituted procedural requirements that made it incredibly difficult for a person to be found guilty.
The Mishna relates that: “A Sanhedrin (rabbinic court) that prescribes the death sentence once in seven years is called murderous. Rabbi Eliezer b. Azariah says: ‘Once in seventy years.’ Rabbi Tarfon and Rabbi Akiva say: ‘Had we been members of a Sanhedrin, no person would ever be put to death'” (Makkot 1.10).
Clearly the rabbis of that time found the idea of sentencing a person to death abhorrent.
Research as to the effectiveness of the death penalty shows that there is no conclusive evidence that it deters murderers. How much more so would that be the case in terms of the Nukhba Forces of the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas!
Indeed, it would simply turn them into shahidim (martyrs), leading to them being revered and venerated even more by their followers. Others would seek to emulate them and thereby earn their place in Paradise.
The Koran teaches: “Think not of those who are slain in Allah’s way as dead. Nay, they live, finding their sustenance in the presence of their Lord. They rejoice in the bounty provided by Allah” (3:169-170).
So why the call for “Death to the terrorists”? The only possible motivation must be a call for revenge.
However, Maimonides wrote that revenge is an extremely bad trait and a person should rise above his feelings about all worldly matters (Mishneh Torah, De’ot 7:7).
Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, the first Rebbe of Chabad, wrote in his Code of Jewish Law that “one should erase any feeling of revenge from one’s heart and never remind oneself of it” (Shulchan Aruch HaRav 156:3).
“Death to the terrorists” might be a popular slogan, but one would question whether it would achieve anything other than simply satisfy a craving for vengeance, and whether that is the kind of emotion that Judaism would wish to encourage.
