Posts

Death Penalty. Ideal Versus Real World View.

To recap, first there was Yitz Greenberg's Jerusalem Post December 22, 2025 article:  Death penalty debate: Jewish reverence for life vs Ben-Gvir’s cheapening of life We countered his "ideal world" and dismissiveness of both Ben-Givir and Rabbi Meir Kahane in our article that ran in the Jerusalem Post on January 13, 2026:  Is the death penalty for terrorists proposed by Ben-Gvir 'Jewish'? On January 18, 2026, the Jerusalem Post printed two articles, on the same page, that rebutted our arguments in a very personal and derogatory attack. One was by Yitz Greenberg " The prob­lem with death pen­alty for ter­ror " and one by  Michael Zoosman " Incit­ing mar­tyrs and invit­ing murder ". Here is our reply to Messrs. Greenberg and Zoosman,  to both their unrealistic "ideal" world approach and uncivil tone. The the Jerusalem Post has not printed this article of ours:   Itamar Ben-Gvir's new law proposing the death penalty for terro...

Is the death penalty for terrorists proposed by Ben Gvir ‘Jewish’?

 As appeared in the JerusalemPost .     By Alex Sternberg and David S. Levine    Arab terrorism has been rising not only in Gaza but also in Yehuda and Shomron. Terrorists are mounting deadly attacks with increasing frequency. Some believe this increase in terror is directly tied to lenient prison sentences meted out by the courts. Even when the sentence is life in prison without the possibility of parole, the terrorists understand that, in reality, they will remain in jail only until the next prisoner/hostage exchange. When such murderers are exchanged, they immediately return to terrorism, free to kill again. Yahya Sinwar is a perfect example of this. Itamar Ben Gvir, Israel’s Minister for National Security, has proposed a law that would extend the death penalty to any terrorist convicted of murdering Jews. Israel, of course, abolished the death penalty in 1954, only reinstating it once in the case of the arch-Nazi Adolf Eichmann. As ever...