“There is nothing new under the sun” – Ben-Gvir’s Execution Threats on Sukkot

מַה־שֶּֽׁהָיָה֙ ה֣וּא שֶׁיִּהְיֶ֔ה וּמַה־שֶּׁנַּֽעֲשָׂ֔ה ה֖וּא שֶׁיֵּעָשֶׂ֑ה וְאֵ֥ין כׇּל־חָדָ֖שׁ תַּ֥חַת הַשָּֽׁמֶשׁ׃

Only that shall happen

That has happened,

Only that occur

That has occurred;

There is nothing new

Under the sun! (קֹהֶלֶת , Ecclesiastes 1:9)

Jews across the world read the famous verse above and many others like it from the book of Kohelet (Eccesiastes) during the festival of Sukkot that continues this week. Traditionally attributed to King Solomon, Seifer Kohelet helps us to put into perspective the ephemeral nature of life of which the holiday of Sukkot, replete with its imperfect, impermanent structures, reminds us. This year, that reminder could not be needed more, as the approaching third anniversary of October 7, 2023 casts a shadow on every sukkah across the Jewish world.

True to form, during this same sacred, sombre week, Otzma Yehudit party chairman and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, one of the most dangerous Jewish leaders to come along in millennia, continues to add to his list of ushpizin – Sukkot guests – the manmade Angel of Death. Just after the start of the holiday, Ben-Gvir released a video in which he threatened imprisoned Hamas terrorist Hassan Salameh, telling him, “I want to kill you. I want to put you to death.” In the video, which Ben-Gvir said was recorded during a prison visit about two weeks earlier, he told Salameh, who orchestrated the deadly 1996 Line 18 suicide bus bombings, that he would go to hell in the afterlife. “But here, I’m responsible for hell,” the minister added.

Salameh is serving multiple life sentences for orchestrating three suicide bombings in 1996. The two Line 18 bus bombings, carried out on February 25 and March 3, killed 45 people. A third bombing at Ashkelon Junction on February 25 killed IDF soldier Hofit Aish. Salameh was arrested that year, convicted and sentenced to 46 consecutive life terms plus 30 years.“You killed 48 people,” Ben-Gvir said. “Children, women, men and soldiers” – people he said he regarded as his own children. “When I was a kid, I protested that they need(ed) to take care of people like you,” he said. “Today, I’m closing that circle.”

This is not the only circle that Ben-Gvir is “closing” by releasing this video. In addition to perpetuating the circle and cycle of violence, his deplorable action also exemplifies the full circle of Machiavellian manoeuvring and lethal political theatrics that have endangered not only Jews, but all of humanity since the dawn of civilization. Ben-Gvir’s latest nauseating spectacle in the service of upcoming election votes is but the latest, of course, in a long list of his poisonous power plays. These have included a Yom Kippur execution chamber death wish, social media posts depicting his fantasies of hangings, gallows-laden birthday cake, and celebratory toast to executions in the Knesset on the eve of Passover, to name but a few.

And Ben-Gvir is not alone. In Israel, he is joined in wielding the sceptre of the executioner’s sword by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who recently seized upon the “opportunity” a horrific, lethal terror attack to publicly advocate for the death penalty. Their retreat to the shadow of state-sponsored judicial murder constitutes one of the most toxic and deadly pages from the playbook of similar authoritarians and tyrants throughout history, from Donald Trump to Adolph Hitler and countless others in between.

Why Respond at all to Ben-Gvir’s Outlandish Behavior?

There comes a point when it seems as though drawing attention to such outbursts by responding to them with essays such as this one would not only be unhelpful, but perhaps counterproductive, drawing attention to what is ultimately attention- and power-seeking behavior.

The alternative, however, of not responding to such actions, would be far worse.

Silence in the face of such developments may prove – quite literally – deadly. It is more imperative than ever that the rising groundswell of Jewish individuals and organizations standing with the thousands of members of “L’chaim! Jews Against the Death Penalty” across Israel, the United States and the world raise their voices now. L’chaim members often invoke death penalty abolitionist Elie Wiesel, z’l, (1928-2016) whose abolitionist stance encapsulates theirs. When questioned about his feelings on capital punishment, Wiesel resolutely stated, “Death should never be the answer in a civilized society.” By the end of his life, Wiesel publicly said that he made no exception to this rule, stating: “With every cell of my being and with every fiber of my memory, I oppose the death penalty in all forms. I do not believe any civilized society should be at the service of death. I don’t think it’s human to become an agent of the angel of death.”

While that quote informs L’chaim members now, another from Wiesel merits serious consideration in this liminal moment. In his now-famous 1986 Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech, Wiesel stated: “I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” Wiesel’s charge reminds us of the danger of silence in the face of all human rights violations, of which the death penalty is undeniably one.

It is essential, then, that we name and call out Ben-Gvir and other Machiavellian politicians when they invoke the Angel of Death on their path to personal glory and power, as the National Security minister did so unceremoniously this Sukkot. Failure to do so only empowers them further, normalizing their destructive pattern of behavior with tacit approval. As Kohelet reminds us, humanity has seen such displays since time immemorial. It is high time that we learn our lesson and do all we can to resist such tyrannical behavior, lest the darkest chapters of Jewish and human history repeat.

Cantor Michael J. Zoosman, MSM

Jewish Prison Chaplain

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

Advisory Committee Member: Death Penalty Action