Dem
47
GOP
53
One year ago, Israel was on the front pages every day, in large part because of all the protests over the war in Gaza. Because of the ceasefire, or because attention is on Iran, or because of... maybe some other reason, that's not true anymore.
Consequently, a decision just made by the Knesset is flying under the radar a bit. Yesterday, by a vote of 62-58, the members approved a measure backed by far-right Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir, by which that nation would resume capital punishment, but only for Palestinians who perpetrated attacks aimed at "ending Israel's existence." This represents a sea-change in Israeli law. In cases of murder, the death penalty had been abolished since 1954. The only person put to death by Israel since then was Adolf Eichmann, who was executed for crimes against humanity in 1962. Now, just like that, capital punishment is back.
Anyone who opposes the death penalty will find this distasteful. Making it worse, however, is that it is delimited by ethnicity. There have been claims that "Israel is the first state in history to legislate a death sentence that applies only to one ethnic group." That's probably not true—if you go far enough back, there must be examples of the Romans targeting one particular group, or maybe the Assyrians, or the Persians. Still, it's not common, particularly in the modern world. And it's definitely not a good look, especially since there's plenty of footage of Ben-Gvir and other members of his far-right Otzma Yehudit Party celebrating the vote with glasses of champagne.
We have pointed out many times, particularly in the context of Israel, that war is a continuation of politics by other means. That means that PR is most certainly a part of the equation, and an important part. And Israel, which is very dependent on support from Western nations, has a particular need to be careful about the image it puts forward. At the moment, because Donald Trump is the U.S. president, and because of the Iran War, the Israeli government has a hall pass to do pretty much whatever it wants. But they could be playing with fire.
It is very possible, maybe even likely, that the Israeli Supreme Court strikes down this new law. But if that does not happen, and if executions commence, that is going to be a very serious blow to Israel's public image. The European nations are already outraged about the new law, and have suggested that anyone who participates in carrying it out could be guilty of crimes against humanity, and could be arrested and put on trial if they move beyond Israel's borders.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump won't be president forever. Eventually, a Democrat will reclaim the Oval Office. And while that Democrat is not likely to be overtly hostile to Israel, they are very likely to answer to a voter base that has very mixed feelings about that nation. That future Democratic president is also going to be someone who was born well after World War II, and who answers to voters of similar age, and so is not likely to be nearly as in-touch with the sentiments that led to the creation of a Jewish nation in the first place. It is doubtful that this president would cut off Israel entirely, but lukewarm American support for that nation could be enough to put them in a precarious condition, particularly if the Iran War makes the Iranians behave in a more aggressive manner. In other words, one day, not too far off, that champagne that Ben-Gvir was drinking might just turn to vinegar.
And since this has inadvertently emerged as a running theme of today's posting, allow us to pose a question: Beyond being members of different Abrahamic traditions, is there really all that much difference between Pete Hegseth, Itamar Ben-Gvir and, say, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei? At best, they embrace extremely violent, grossly corrupted versions of the religions they claim to profess. At worst, they don't really believe at all, and are merely using their religion as a cloak to advance their political agenda. If readers have comments—maybe we're right, maybe we're wrong—we welcome them at comments@electoral-vote.com. (Z)