Capital punishment in Israel
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In Israel, capital punishment is illegal in almost all circumstances. The death penalty was abolished in 1954 with the exceptions of conviction for genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, crimes against the Jewish people, and treason in wartime [1]. Only one person has been civilly executed in the history of the State of Israel - Adolf Eichmann in 1962, after he was convicted in 1961 of participation in Nazi war crimes relating to the Holocaust. Others have been sentenced to death but won appeals to overturn the sentence.
It is generally accepted that one of the reasons for Israel's rare use of the death penalty is Jewish religious law. However, there is some debate as to whether Jewish law forbids capital punishment. Biblical law explicitly mandates the death penalty for 36 offenses, from murder and rape to idolatry and desecration of the Sabbath. Still, Jewish scholars since the beginning of the common era have developed such restrictive rules to prevent execution of the innocent that the death penalty has become de facto illegal. Most modern Jewish religious leaders and scholars believe that the death penalty should remain unused.
Although in theory the Israeli state does not use the death penalty, in practice it is still carried out, as Mossad agents have been reported killing people abroad. The Israeli state has admitted these. [2]
Contents |
[edit] Executed people
| Executed person | Date of execution | Crime(s) | Under President | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Meir Tobianski | June 30, 1948 | Treason during the the early days of Israel's War of Independence. Tobianski was acquitted in 1949 and posthumously promoted to the rank of captain | |
| 2 | Adolf Eichmann | June 1, 1962 | Crimes against humanity and war crimes, crimes against the Jewish people and membership of |an outlawed organization involving the murder of many Jews | Yitzhak Ben-Zvi |
[edit] See also
Human rights in Israel
Religion and capital punishment
[edit] References
- ^ Jewish Law. Ira Kasdan. Retrieved on April 24, 2008.
- ^ http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B02E6DA1639F93BA15752C0A960958260
[edit] External links
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