Otzma Yehudit Chairman and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir opened his party's faction meeting by calling for the immediate advancement of legislation for the death penalty for terrorists. He made clear that if the bill is not brought for a vote in the Knesset within three weeks, his faction would not remain committed to the coalition.
Ben-Gvir mentioned that the legislation was part of the coalition agreements between Otzma Yehudit and the Likud: "When the government was formed, the Otzma Yehudit faction, led by me, agreed with the Likud faction, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, that during the current Knesset, the death penalty for terrorists would pass."
According to the Minister, despite the agreement, the Likud delayed the advancement of the legislation for months. Even after the war began, he said they used the claim of possibly harming the hostages to postpone the bill.
"I claimed that this was a severe mistake," Ben-Gvir continued, "On the contrary, this would have been a significant source of pressure on Hamas, part of Israel's toolbox during the war. I reminded everyone that the terrorists carried out the massacre and the abductions without there being a law, since our enemies don't need an excuse to hurt us, besides our very existence. In any case, last week, all the living hostages returned home, thank G-d, and now the excuses are finished."
He added, "As part of the deal that was signed with Hamas, hundreds of terrorist murderers were unfortunately released from prison. When terrorists remain alive, the terrorists outside are motivated to abduct, to free their Nazi brothers in future deals. This needs to end. The fact that Jewish blood is worthless needs to end. Never again."
In his statement, Ben-Gvir clarified: "Therefore, I am officially announcing that we demand that the first bill that will be advanced in the current session of the Knesset be the death penalty for terrorists. If, within three weeks, the bill isn't brought for a vote in the Knesset plenum, Otzma Yehudit will not remain committed to voting with the coalition. The time has come for the Likud to meet this commitment, which is, above all, a commitment to the public that voted for a right-wing government. The time has come for the Nukhba terrorists to pay the proper price for the atrocities they committed, and potential terrorists to know that the days of being released from prison in deals are over. If they murder a Jew, they will not remain alive."
Ben-Gvir also mentioned the killing of two IDF soldiers in Rafah on Sunday during the ceasefire: "Yesterday, Hamas murdered two of our soldiers in Rafah, during a 'ceasefire.' I heard things like 'we will take a heavy price from Hamas,' 'We will hit Hamas hard.' This is October 6th talk. We are not in another round of fighting, but rather the War of Redemption, as the Prime Minister correctly called it. And the main goal of the war is to destroy Hamas, not to take a price, but to take its continued existence."
He concluded by calling on the Prime Minister: "This is the time to recover, this is the time to return to intense fighting in full force, to conquer, to uproot, until we meet this goal."