Minister of Education and Diaspora Affairs Naftali Bennett, chairman of the Jewish Home party, has called on the IDF’s prosecution to demand the death penalty for Omar al-Abed, the Palestinian terrorist who butchered three family members in their home on Friday night.
Minister of Defense Avigdor Liberman concurred with Bennett’s call to have al-Abed executed.
“The option of the death penalty exists in military courts. There is no need for special legislation; only a request for it in court. I call on the military prosecution to demand the death penalty for the terrorist who murdered the Salomon family,” Bennett stated after visiting the family’s home.
“In such an extreme case, there is indeed room to impose the death penalty and that is within the jurisdiction of the Judea and Samaria military courts,” Liberman told Ynet on Sunday. Liberman has long supported the death penalty for Palestinian terrorists.
Omar al-Abed, a 19-year-old Palestinian terrorist, stabbed three family members to death Friday evening in the Jewish community of Neve Tsuf (aka Halamish) in Samaria. The vicious murder occurred as the family was enjoying their Shabbat meal and celebrating the birth of a new grandson.
A soldier on home leave who heard the commotion rushed to the scene and shot and wounded the terrorist. He was treated for an abdominal wound and then was turned over to Israeli security forces.
The victims are Yosef Salomon (70) and his children Chaya Salomon, 46, and Elad Salomon, 36. Yosef’s wife Tova, 68, was seriously wounded and underwent surgery at Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center.
As for immediate actions taken against the terrorist and his family, Liberman said the terrorist’s home will be demolished and his extended family’s work permits in Israel will be revoked.
Minister of Justice Ayelet Shaked of the Jewish Home party likewise tweeted that “the murderers of children and families deserve the death penalty. Such a punishment exists in the military court with a unanimous decision by the judges. This is an incident that demands the death penalty for the murderer.” Her tweet was a response to Bennett’s statement.
Israel has rarely used the death sentence, and its only execution was of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann.
Originally posted by World Israel News.
