Israeli minister calls for death sentences for Palestinian prisoners

Israeli Minister of Transportation Yisrael Katz called for the death penalty to be reinstated as a deterrent for Palestinian prisoners while welcoming the decision to enforce life sentences.

Speaking about the draft law which was approved by the Israeli cabinet yesterday, Katz said: “This is a just law, a deterrent which prevents Israel from being extorted and surrendering during negotiations, and which puts an end to releasing murderous terrorists.”

An Israeli ministerial committee on legislation yesterday approved a draft law that could make it illegal to release Palestinian prisoners serving long sentences as part of prisoner swaps and peace deals.

Katz criticised three ministers who opposed the move describing their decision “incorrect”. “It is time to remove the equation of releasing terrorists for continuing negotiations,” he said.

He claimed that several ministers objected the release of “murderers” in the latest prisoners swap with the Palestinian fighters in 2011.

The minister went on to say that there are now some who are calling for releasing them for the sake of negotiations.