For decades, Israel has long been the target of terrorists from the Middle East and also those from other parts of the world. Countless people died in acts of violence and destruction committed by the terrorists. Knowing this, the Knesset of Israel approved a bill that would legislate the death penalty for terrorists with the tally of 62 to 48, according to a news report by The Jerusalem Post.
To put things in perspective, posted below is an excerpt from the news report of The Jerusalem Post. Some parts in boldface…
The Knesset plenum passed a law mandating the death penalty for terrorists in Israel in final readings on Monday evening. The bill passed with 62 lawmakers in favor, 48 against, and one abstained.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived at the Knesset to vote in favor of the controversial legislation, openly showing his support.
The bill, which was sponsored by far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit Party, would, according to its proponents, act as a deterrent against terror and serve a measure of justice for victims of terrorism.
Ben-Gvir has pushed for the legislation since the start of his tenure as national security minister, repeatedly stating that its passage was a condition of Otzma Yehudit’s coalition agreement with Netanyahu.
Upon the bill’s passage, Ben-Gvir celebrated, stating, “Today, the State of Israel changes the rules of the game: anyone who murders Jews will no longer breathe freely or enjoy prison privileges.”
“This is a day of justice for the victims, a day of deterrence for the enemies. No more revolving doors for terrorists, only a clear decision. Those who choose terror choose death. Those who believe do not fear. The people of Israel live!” he added.
Discussions on the bill have been held in the plenum since morning, ahead of its second and third readings. The bill passed its first reading in November 2025 and has been debated in the Knesset National Security Committee since then.
The updated outline of the bill proposes that executions for terrorists would be carried out by hanging, implemented by the Israel Prison Service. The bill stipulates that a terrorist who intentionally kills a person as part of an act of terrorism will be sentenced to death.
From the outset, Ben-Gvir wanted an automatic death penalty for terrorism convictions, and that was the outline passed in the first reading. The revised version stipulates that a judge would decide between capital punishment and life in prison.
Terrorists from the West Bank, however, would still get the automatic death penalty, barring specific appeals.
The legislation has undergone several changes in recent weeks to soften some of its technical aspects, following criticism that certain provisions were too harsh or unrealistic.
The bill had also originally proposed carrying out executions by lethal injection before switching to hanging. Under the current outline, the execution would be carried out within a defined time frame of up to 90 days from the date of the sentence.
Strong opposition to the bill has also come from lawmakers within the Arab parties in the Knesset. Ben-Gvir has clashed with them on numerous occasions as the bill was being developed.
Yisrael Beytenu Party leader Avigdor Liberman voted in favor of the bill after his stance had been unclear. On Sunday, it was reported that his party would only vote in favor of the bill if Netanyahu and Arye Deri, leader of the Shas Party, arrived to vote.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) stated that he opposed the bill during remarks at the plenum. “What is on the Knesset table here is not a law. It is a distorted public-relations stunt, cynically using the justifiable pain and anger of Israeli citizens for political gain,” he said.
Blue and White Party leader Benny Gantz also voted against the bill.
The haredi Sephardic Shas Party stated on Monday that it would vote in favor of the death penalty bill at the directive of the Council of Torah Sages, after various changes were made to it.
Content of the death penalty bill – Representatives from several Jewish human rights organizations have attended multiple committee discussions, voicing opposition to the bill on ethical grounds.
After the Knesset National Security Committee advanced the bill last week for its final readings, Ben-Gvir called it a “historic moment of justice” and vowed to “continue to lead an uncompromising policy against terrorism.”
The Knesset committee has held marathon discussions on the bill to advance it rapidly, with the discussions continuing amid the war. Opposition lawmakers have sharply criticized the coalition for advancing controversial legislation unrelated to the war during Operation Roaring Lion.
MK Zvika Fogel (Otzma Yehudit) opened remarks at the plenum on the bill on Monday, saying that “This law is not about revenge or rage, but about the responsibility of a state towards its citizens, the responsibility of leadership towards human life.“
For other updates about what has been going lately in the Middle East, watch the YouTube news videos below.
Let me end this piece by asking you readers: What is your reaction to this development? Do you think the approved death penalty bill for terrorists has been long overdue? Do you know anyone who was killed by Islamic terrorists?
To get straight into what happened, watch the selected videos below. Pay close attention to the details.
To put things in perspective about the many surviving hostages who made it back home to Israel after spending over two years in captivity in Gaza, posted below is an excerpt from The Jerusalem Post news report. Some parts in boldface…
All 20 of the living Israeli hostages held by Hamas have returned to Israeli territory, the IDF announced. The remaining live hostages held by Hamas were all in IDF custody as of 11:42 a.m.
The first seven hostages to be released were named as: Matan Angrest, Alon Ohel, Eitan Mor, Gali and Ziv Berman, Omri Miran, and Guy Gilboa-Dalal. The second round of returned hostages, which are the other 13, included: Bar Abraham Kupershtein, Evyatar David, Yosef-Chaim Ohana, Segev Kalfon, Avinatan Or, Elkana Bohbot, Maxim Herkin, Nimrod Cohen, Matan Zangauker, Eitan Horn, Rom Braslavski, Ariel Cunio, and David Cunio.
The released hostages have undergone a medical assessment and are en route to hospitals and will reunite with their families, the military added.
Despite earlier IDF estimates that the hostages would be returned in three rounds, in the end it took only two rounds, with Hamas seeming to want to have all hostages over to Israeli custody before US President Donald Trump was soon expected to speak to the Israeli Knesset.
The three expected locations for the transfers were Gaza City, central Gaza, and Khan Yunis in southern Gaza.
Earlier Monday at 9:10 a.m., the IDF had already received seven out of the 20 remaining live hostages back from Hamas via the International Red Cross (ICRC). By 8:10 a.m., the ICRC had already received those hostages from Hamas.
Late Sunday night, the IDF had said that if the live hostages were stable, they would move from Red Cross custody to IDF special forces custody, then to the Reim base, and then to the three hospitals: Shiba, Ichalov, and Beilinson.However, if a live hostage was in immediate medical danger, a helicopter would be sent to rush them to Soroka Medical Center or to Barzilai Medical Center.
All of the first round hostages were stable enough medically that they did not require an emergency evacuation.
The IDF expects that some deceased hostages will be returned on Monday, but has no set numbers about how many, and is prepared for that part of the process to be drawn out over multiple days or longer. The deceased hostages will be transferred to Israel in coordination with further Red Cross-supervised exchanges, under the same verification and transfer protocols. Part of the process will also involve identifying the remains with specific hostages.
According to the IDF, Hamas is bound to assist a joint mechanism associated with the Trump ceasefire to help locate other deceased hostages, where finding them may be less of an exact science.
The ICRC will also transfer around 2,000 Palestinian security prisoners held in Israeli prisons to the Gaza Strip, West Bank, and locations outside of Israel, such as Qatar and Turkey.
Praise and thank the Lord for the return of the 20 surviving hostages! Spending a little over two years as captives of the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in Gaza surely has been painful and torturous for them. Their respective families had to deal with the long waits and uncertainties during the two years. The surviving hostages are now starting to get their lives back on track and figure out how they will fit back in with local society. The release of the hostages was made possible by the new peace deal for Gaza (and the Middle East) brokered by Trump. What has happened today is undeniably history unfolding and there is still a lot of developments yet to happen.
Of course, we should not forget about the other hostages who died in captivity in Gaza. For sure, the return of bodies of dead hostages will be sorrowful for the affected families and their local communities. That being said, I urge the faithful reading this to pray to the Lord to comfort and heal the families whose loved ones died in captivity in Gaza.
Moving on, Trump addressed the Knesset during his visit in Israel. He expressed how good it is to say that the hostages are back and that the painful nightmare left behind by the October 7, 2023, terrorist attacks committed by Hamas (supported by terrorist state Iran) is over.
To put things in perspective and to find out what Trump exactly said, posted below is an excerpt from the news report of The Jerusalem Post. Some parts in boldface…
US President Donald Trump arrived at the Knesset on Monday morning, giving a speech at the plenum.
A trumpet fanfare sounded in the Knesset upon his entrance to the building and he entered the plenum to additional fanfare and wide applause.
“We’re in a nice place,” Trump’s speech began. We are “giving thanks to the Abrahamic God,” he added.
“The hostages are back! It feels so good to say it,” Trump said.
Netanyahu is “not easy to work with, but that’s what makes him great,” Trump affirmed.
“Like the USA right now, it will be the golden age for Israel,” the president commented.
Trump commented that “a lot of people said we were wasting our time” with regards to a ceasefire agreement, but thanks to several “great American patriots, we achieved this,” Trump commented, highlighting the work of US envoy Steve Witkoff for the part that he played.
Trump also thanked “someone who loves Israel so much, my daughter converted,” referring to his son-in-law Jared Kushner, and also thanked US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, noting that the two were political rivals, particularly during the Republican party primaries before Trump’s 2016 election victory.
Trump said that countries working together toward peace under the Gaza agreement represents an “incredible triumph for Israel and the world.”
He said Israel “has won all that can be won by force of arms.”
He added that it was time to translate what he described as “victories against terrorists” into peace and prosperity for the Middle East.
Trump then said my “personality is all about stopping wars.”
“As you mentioned, Bibi before, peace through strength…We have a lot of weapons, and we’ve given a lot of them to Israel frankly…Bibi would call me sometimes, can you get me this weapon that weapon, some of them I had never even heard of,” Trump said.
“Never forget and never again,” Trump declared regarding Hamas’s October 7, 2023 massacre, as the plenum stood for a standing ovation.
The “cruelty of October 7 struck the heart of humanity. The US mourned alongside Israel,” Trump affirmed.
“Because of us, the long and painful nightmare is finally over,” he said.
Trump also praised Israel for its airstrikes against Iran in June’s Operation Rising Lion, and the part the US played in striking Iranian nuclear facilities in Operation Midnight Hammer.
“We stopped the number one state sponsor of terror in obtaining the world’s most dangerous weapons,” he said.
“Assuming we made the same deal we have today, there would be a dark could over the deal,” he added.
“We took a big cloud off the Middle East and off of Israel,” Trump said to a round of applause.
“They took a big hit,” Trump said about Iran. “You know it would be great if we could make a peace deal” with them, he said.
“The dagger of Hezbollah, long aimed at Israel’s throat, has been shattered,” Trump commented, adding that he is supporting the Lebanese president in disarming the terror organization.
“People are dancing in countries in the street that would never have danced in the street,” due to the deal, Trump said, adding that the entire region has endorsed the plan that Hamas will be demilitarized.
“Peace is not just a dream, it’s a reality that we can build upon piece by piece,” the president said.
Everybody that has tried antisemitic policies has become irrelevant, and those who have reached across to Israel have become important, Trump said referring to the Abraham Accords, signalling his intention for other countries to join the agreement. “Now you have peace…people who really like Israel,” he said.
“They did nothing with the document,” he said, referring to countries who have not yet join the normalization agreement with Israel.
“This little dot, look at what you’ve done it’s incredible,” he said, receiving another standing ovation.
“The world wanted peace and Israel wanted peace, everybody did, and what a victory it’s been. The timing of this is brilliant,” Trump said as he thanked Netanyahu for “having the courage to end the war” when he did.
“After tremendous pain and hardship, now is the time to build the country up, instead of tearing it downI intend to be a partner is this,” Trump said.
“It’s my firm hope and dream that the Abraham Accords will turn out to be everything that we thought they would. Trump said that even after the war, the countries within the accords have remained. I hope all the countries we’re seeking, join quickly, no games,” Trump commented.
When Iran signed the nuclear deal it was a disaster for everyone,” Trump spoke on the past.
“That was the beginning of a very bad time, and by the way, I terminated the Iran nuclear deal,” Trump added.
Iran “wants to make a deal,” Trump said. Neither US or Israel bear Iran any hostility, the president claimed.
“We are ready when you are, and it’s going to be the best decision that Iran ever made,” Trump said.
“The state of Israel is strong and it will live and thrive forever,” he said, praising Israel as a key US ally.
Trump also spoke on the things he has done for Israel, remarking on how he is the best ally Israel has ever had.
Still there in the Knesset, Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with the mourning families, the abducted and the wounded Israel Defense Forces (IDF) personnel. You can see it by clicking here.
Thank the Lord for US President Trump, Prime Minister Netanyahu, the Israeli President Isaac Herzog, the armed forces of Israel and the entire Jewish State for the breakthroughs that happened this year. Israel defeated Iran during the 12-Day War which involved America’s massive bombing on the Iranian nuclear facilities. Hamas terrorists lost a lot of ground in Gaza and were down to their final stronghold being cornered by the IDF.
The Trump-brokered peace deal is working as I write this and having been to Israel myself (some of my Israel 2023 tour blog posts can be read by clicking here, here, here, here and here) I truly believe that the Middle East will change for the better with Israel as God’s chosen state. There will be challenges, the Trump-brokered peace deal has to keep developing, Middle East nations will have to adjust before joining the Abraham Accords and the terrorist leadership of Iran has yet to vanish. Whatever happens, hang on to your faith in the Lord and live on with His Word (the Holy Bible). Do not let the worldly pawns of Satan and chaos of the world dominate you. Simply stay strong with the Lord and keep on supporting Israel and Trump’s current term as US President.
To everyone reading this, I encourage you to accept the truth that Israel is the land God designated specifically for the Jewish people (read Genesis 35:10-12) and His command must be followed without hesitation. If you want to be blessed further by the Lord, do so by loving and blessing the Jewish people (Genesis 12:1-3). I did my part when I was in Israel. Also, let me remind you all that the ties between the Jews and Christians are truly biblical!
I encourage you all to pray to the Lord God in support of Israel, to love and bless the Jewish people, and pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
Author Carlo Carrasco 