ISRAEL PERSPECTIVE

Sixty-two votes in favor, forty-eight against, and a bottle raised in toast. Itamar Ben-Gvir didn't even wait for the count to end to celebrate what he calls "the most important text in recent decades." The Jerusalem Post details the parliamentary mechanics: the initial text provided for automatic death penalty for any terrorist act. The final version reserves it as a "default sentence" for military courts in the West Bank — which only judge Palestinians. Israeli citizens, meanwhile, fall under civilian courts, where the judge chooses between capital punishment and life imprisonment. Professor Yoram Rabin, a constitutional law expert interviewed at length by the JP, speaks of a "moral stain" and points out the central legal flaw: the criterion of "intention to deny Israel's existence" de facto excludes Jews. The ACRI association filed an appeal with the Supreme Court before the vote even ended. But it is Ram Ben Barak, former number two at Mossad and opposition deputy, who delivers the most biting statement: "Hamas has defeated us. It has defeated us because we have lost all our values." Netanyahu, for his part, voted in silence, without taking the floor. This calculated silence says it all: he is yielding to Ben-Gvir to save his coalition, without personally committing to a text he knows is vulnerable before the Supreme Court. Shas, an ultra-Orthodox party, voted in favor on the directive of the Council of Sages of the Torah — a late rallying that shows the pressure exerted by Ben-Gvir on all coalition components. Avigdor Lieberman, whose vote was uncertain, conditioned his support on Netanyahu's physical presence in the chamber. The law provides for execution by hanging within 90 days, extendable by 180 days at the Prime Minister's request, with no right of pardon.