Israel Matzav: Another reason Israel needs a death penalty for terrorists

Another reason Israel needs a death penalty for terrorists

The fact that Israel has no death penalty for terrorists is absurd. It leaves us open to the whims of governments seeking to trade terrorists for kidnapped soldiers and civilians to bolster their standing. It encourages the 'Palestinians' to try to kidnap Israelis, especially IDF soldiers. Worst of all, it destroys the citizenry's morale as time and again we are forced to watch murderers go free. There's another reason why we need a death penalty for terrorists: Occasionally, they actually serve out their term and are set free. Such is the case with the terrorist who allowed his home to be used in the 1994 kidnapping and murder of IDF soldier Nachshon Wachsman HY"D (may God avenge his blood), the son of an American immigrant mother and an Israeli father.

Israel freed on the eve of Passover the Arab terrorist who allowed his home to be used by the kidnap-murderers of Golani elite commando soldier Nachshon Wachsman in 1994. The terrorist had served his prison term of 13 years.

Nachshon's kidnap aroused the prayers of the entire country, both secular and religious, who recited Psalms for his safety after he was kidnapped by terrorists disguised as hareidi-religious Jews near Ben Gurion airport.

After the IDF and intelligence officials managed to track down and capture one of the terrorists, then-Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin ordered a rescue attempt, in which the commander of the elite unit and Wachsman were killed by the terrorists.

Prior to the rescue attempt, the terrorists released a video of a gun pointed at the head of the soldier, who said, “The people of Hamas kidnapped me and want to free prisoners; if not, they will kill me.”

There are a lot more details on the Wachsman case here.

Israel Matzav: Another reason Israel needs a death penalty for terrorists