Netanyahu backs death penalty for terrorist who killed Netanel Shukron

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with the family of Netanel Shukron, who was killed in a terrorist attack in the Binyamin region shortly before Yom Kippur. According to a statement issued by the Prime Minister's Office, Netanyahu conveyed condolences on his own behalf and that of his wife, Sara, and described Shukron as a hero, a committed reserve soldier and the head of a family whose devotion set an example.

The call went beyond condolences. News.co.il reported that Netanyahu voiced unequivocal support for executing the attacker, describing it as the first time since the law entered into force that the prime minister has backed the death penalty in a specific case. In the conversation he was quoted as saying that this was precisely why the legislation was passed, and that it was essential for the justice system to act on it immediately.

What happened at the spring

The attack took place at a spring in the Binyamin region, the area of the West Bank north of Jerusalem that includes a cluster of Israeli settlements and Palestinian towns. Springs in the hills there are a common destination for Israeli families and hikers.

Ynet reported that Shukron's son Yoav, aged 16, was with his father and saw him hit by the gunman's fire on Friday. The father told his son to flee, according to the report, but the boy stayed and held his hand. In the call with the prime minister, Yoav said he heard what the report described as the usual things, a reference to what Netanyahu told him.

Ynet also quoted Shukron's brother, who described him as someone who could speak to every group in its own language, without disputes, and who kept things in low tones.

The death penalty law

Israel has had no practical use for capital punishment in ordinary criminal cases, and the question of executing convicted terrorists has been debated in the Knesset, Israel's parliament, for years. The reports here refer to a law that has already entered into force, and to the fact that no prime minister had previously called for its use in a concrete case. Netanyahu, according to News.co.il, framed his remarks as a demand that the courts and prosecutors apply an instrument the legislature has already provided.

Because the attack occurred in the Binyamin region, any prosecution of a Palestinian suspect would run through the Israeli military court system in the West Bank rather than the civilian courts. News.co.il reported that Likud members of the Knesset are pressing the Military Advocate General's office, the army's prosecution arm, on the matter.

The family's demand

The family put the same demand to the prime minister directly. News.co.il reported that Shukron's sister, Miri Shukron, called for the attacker to be put to death, saying that a terrorist who raises his hands is still a terrorist and that his sentence is death. Speaking to Yossi Ben Atar on the Israeli public broadcaster's Kan Moreshet station, she invoked the rabbinic maxim that if someone comes to kill you, rise early and kill him first, and said that just as terrorists are killed in Gaza there is no reason not to kill terrorists from Judea and Samaria, the Israeli term for the West Bank.

Yom Kippur and the timing

The Prime Minister's Office noted that the killing came in the days before Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, the most solemn date in the Jewish calendar, marked by a full day of fasting and prayer. Attacks that fall immediately before or during the High Holy Days carry additional weight in Israeli public discussion, and condolence calls by senior officials in that period are typically publicised.

What the reports do not say

None of the accounts name the attacker, state whether he is in custody, or say whether charges have been filed. They do not say whether anyone else was hurt in the shooting, nor do they identify the specific spring. They do not set out the procedural steps that would be required for a death sentence to be sought or imposed, or whether the military prosecution has responded to the pressure described by News.co.il. The wording of Netanyahu's remarks differs between the reports: Ynet renders him as saying it may be the first time the law is applied, while News.co.il presents a firmer declaration of support. The transliteration of the family name also varies between Hebrew spellings in the sources.