Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s far-right national security minister, has once again stirred controversy after he posted a video gloating about the construction of a gallows site to execute Palestinians sentenced to death at a prison in Israel.
In the video posted on Ben-Gvir’s far-right Otzma Yehudit party’s official Instagram account, the Israeli minister, who has previously attracted international sanctions and condemnation for his activities, said the execution site will include viewing booths for the family members of victims to witness executions.
Only Palestinians — and not Jewish extremists– who are convicted of terror offenses will be hanged at the site. “I promised to pass the Death Penalty for Terrorists law — we did. And now the death row and hanging facility are also starting to take shape. The release of the footage came after the Knesset passed the Death Penalty for Terrorists law in March this year, making Israel one of the few democracies to expand its use of the death penalty in recent years. However, the law applies exclusively to Palestinians convicted of deadly attacks.
In the clip taken during Ben-Gvir’s visit to the unidentified location, the Israeli minister can be seen pointing at the construction site and boasting it was where “terrorists will be executed”. “I promised to worsen the conditions of terrorists in prisons — we kept it,” he said in the video. The highly controversial legislation mandates military courts to apply death by hanging as the only available sentence for “terrorism-related” cases, unless the court finds special circumstances allowing for life imprisonment.
One of the main drivers of Israel’s new death penalty law, Ben-Gvir, in May celebrated his 50th birthday with a birthday cake decorated with an image of a noose. Ben-Gvir, who has been serving as Israel’s national security minister since 2022, barring a two-month gap last year, has been convicted of incitement to racism and support for a terrorist organisation (Meir Kahane’s banned Kach movement). France, Ireland, and the UK imposed sanctions against him last year after he advocated for a policy of punitive killings in Gaza of 30-40 people a night.
He and his Otzma Yehudit party have been campaigning to create “abominable” conditions for Palestinian prisoners.
