FOR AN ANTI-RACIST AND DEMOCRATIC JEWISH HORIZON


FOR AN ANTI-RACIST AND DEMOCRATIC
JEWISH HORIZON
NES - Gherush92


We Socialist Jews express deep concern over the sequence of decisions made by the Israeli government in recent weeks, which mark a further shift to the right in the country's political and institutional center of gravity.

Israel's vote against the United Nations General Assembly resolution on the enslavement of Africans during the transatlantic slave trade—which has been recognized as "the gravest crime against humanity"—represents a politically and morally grave decision, placing Israel in a position of isolation on an issue that should instead unite democratic consciences.

Even more serious is the approval of the law introducing the death penalty in Military Courts for lethal terrorist acts. This decision is part of a context already marked by the worsening situation in the West Bank (Judea and Samaria), where tensions, violence, restrictions, and a progressive erosion of any political perspective based on law, coexistence, and mutual recognition persist.

The recent law establishes that the death penalty will be imposed on a terrorist who kills a person "with the intent to deny the existence of the State of Israel." The discriminatory wording creates a distinction that effectively reserves the penalty exclusively for Palestinian terrorism (because the ideological evidentiary burden it imposes makes it virtually impossible to apply it to Jewish nationalist terrorism or other mass killings).

The Torah provides for capital punishment for serious crimes, such as murder, idolatry, and adultery, but the Talmud (Makkot 7a-b) imposes stringent conditions and procedural safeguards that almost nullify the possibility of applying such a punishment: two eyewitnesses who have warned the guilty party of the specific punishment before the crime are indispensable, and they must be irreproachable (hatra’ah). A court that carried out a sentence every seven (or seventy) years would be labeled "bloodthirsty" (Makkot 7a), reflecting the rabbinic ideal of avoiding executions.
Rabbis such as R. El'azar ben Azarya and the Rambam (Hilchot Sanhedrin) emphasize that the punishment aims to preserve the sanctity of life rather than kill: in the absence of the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem (since 70 CE), the ancient rabbinical court that had the authority to issue death sentences, executions were suspended, while the Jerusalem Assembly de facto abolished capital punishment around 30 CE, favoring mercy and repentance (teshuvah).
Among contemporary critics, Sephardic Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef has declared that "all the great sages of Judaism are against the death penalty"; and, citing the lack of spiritual or practical benefits, in line with the tradition that sees it as an extreme exception, he has stated that since the Sanhedrin no longer exists, no one today has the power to apply such a punishment.
On the complex issue of the death penalty in Judaism, we refer you to yesterday's article, "Punire il male, proteggere la vita" by Rabbi Ariel Di Porto, published on Pagine Ebraiche (March 31, 2026). Also interesting are Rabbi Shalom Bahbout's considerations on the death penalty, which he considers unjust if applied, because a terrorist who causes a massacre should be forced to repay with 52 years of labor what he has destroyed and to perform a rehabilitative and educational role for himself and his country of origin.

The recent law, selectively targeting specific homicidal acts and lacking halakhic guarantees, appears to contradict the Torah, which rejects vengeance and summary trials. Furthermore, the law, which clearly presents discriminatory aspects, restricts the right to defense, distorts the principle of equality before the law, and conflicts with the foundations of the rule of law. We hope that the Israeli Supreme Court will intervene quickly to overturn it, due to its clear flaws.

In our opinion, these are not measures that strengthen Israel's security. These are decisions that respond to a political-electoral calculation, aimed at garnering support even further to the right and consolidating a more extreme reactionary bloc than the current one.

We Socialist Jews deem all this unacceptable. Israel's security cannot be defended by discriminatory laws, by permanently escalating the conflict, or by weakening democratic principles. It can be defended by strengthening the rule of law, equality, institutional pluralism, and a credible prospect of peace.

We are witnessing the betrayal of the ideals of the Zionists, Israel's founding fathers and mothers. This death penalty law, which strikes at the core values ​​of Judaism, has the immediate effect of destabilizing and creating a chasm that will be difficult to heal.

For this reason, we appeal to the democratic opposition, present and vibrant in Israel, to overcome divisions and fragmentations and build a solid coalition capable of stemming this downward spiral and restoring the country to a democratic Jewish vision of civil coexistence. May human rights, cultural diversity, anti-racism, and sustainability, which are the foundations of Judaism, once again become a source of inspiration for a democratic Jewish opposition, in Israel and around the world.

NES We Socialist Jews
Gherush92 Committee of Human Rights


To read The Manifesto (click here)
For info write to: +39 352 078 3041 (WA) o gherush92@gmail.com


Data: 2026-04-10
Autore: NES We Socialist Jews

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