Rabbi Arie Hasit
Jewish law is ambivalent about the death penalty. Alongside famous Talmudic statements opposing capital punishment by a rabbinic court, Maimonides and others make clear that secular governments — whether a king or other ruling authority — are fully within their rights to use the death penalty as a means of preventing further murder.
And yet, while Jewish law is ambivalent about capital punishment, it is not ambivalent about the centrality of a rigorous justice system. The law passed by the Knesset seeks to compel any court to impose capital punishment even against the court’s own judgment, and to do so speedily — prioritizing deterrence over due process.
Perhaps most egregiously, the law applies only to those who by definition are not represented by Israel: non-citizens and non-residents. While terror is truly a plague upon all Israelis, this law, which purports to fight terror, does so in a way that completely uproots justice.
In the name of the sanctity of life, we affirm that fighting terror is of utmost importance. We reiterate our disgust at the kidnapping of civilians and soldiers as leverage for the release of convicted murderers — but even in the face of the cruelest realities, we refuse to countenance a law that violates so many principles we hold dear. We must always remember that Judaism’s emphasis on the sanctity of life applies to all people, of all religions and all nationalities. A law meant to protect Jewish or Israeli life while remaining cavalier regarding Palestinian life goes against one of the most basic principles of Judaism. We must reject this law and insist on proper due process and justice for all who are brought before the court, regardless of nationality or the crime of which they are accused.
