A solid majority of Jewish Israelis support the death penalty for terrorists who murder Israelis in attacks, the latest Israel Democracy Institute and Tel Aviv University Peace Index poll found.
According to the poll, conducted by the Midgam Research Institute on July 25-27, when asked whether they “support or oppose the execution of Palestinians found guilty of murdering Israeli civilians for nationalist reasons,” almost 70% of respondents said they were in favor, with 25.8% expressing “moderate support” and 44% “strong support.”
Similarly, when respondents were asked whether they supported the death penalty for terrorists who had murdered Israeli soldiers, almost 66% said they were in favor, with 24.1% expressing “moderate support” and 41.7% expressing “strong support.”
The poll comes in the wake of the murder of the 3 members of the Salomon family in the community of Halamish by an Arab stabbing terrorist.
Coming to comfort the mourning relatives of those murdered, Prime Minister Netanyahu had told them that ““The time has come to use the death penalty for this terrorist.”
“This is permitted by the law; it needs a unanimous decision by the judges, but they’ll want to know the position of the government, as well. And my position, as Prime Minister, is that, in the case of this lowly terrorist, he should be executed. He simply cannot be allowed to smile again,” Netanyahu had said, referencing pictures taken of the terrorist smiling shortly after the attack.