Liberman: Targeted assassinations and tougher death penalty now

Liberman urged for a return to targeted assassinations and for a stronger death penalty law against terrorists.

By David Isaac, World Israel News Staff

Former Israeli defense minister Avigdor Liberman called for a return to targeted assassinations and an amendment to make it easier for military courts to sentence terrorists to death after the horrific murder of a young Jewish girl by a Palestinian Arab terrorist.

“We must return to the policy of targeted assassinations in the Gaza Strip,” Liberman said, according to Israeli news site 0404.  “Anyone who follows the Palestinians’ social networks is aware of the broad support of Ori Ansbacher’s despicable  murderer.”

One of the posts supporting the terrorist, Arafat Irfayia, who killed Ansbacher, read: “God is with him, he is an emissary of us all, we must support the family with the demolition of the expected house, and the murder is justified, because it is a soldier and an event taking place in Jerusalem.”

A nature lover, Ansbacher, 19, from the Jewish town of Tekoa near Bethlehem was raped and killed by Arafat Arfiyeh while walking in a wooded nature reserve. The attack has sent shock waves through Israeli society. Arfiyeh left his home in Hebron with a knife with the intention of carrying out an attack.

Ansbacher’s body was found on Friday and Irfayia was arrested on Saturday, tracked down through DNA at the scene of the crime.

Irfayia and his family support Hamas, the terror group that rules the Gaza Strip. It’s not clear if Arfiyeh acted under orders from the Hamas leadership or on his own initiative. Arfiyeh has a history of run-ins with the Israeli authorities, and served time for being in Israel illegally and carrying a knife.

Liberman, who leads the right-wing Israel Beiteinu (or, “Israel is Our Home”) party also tweeted on Saturday, “Today, more than ever, it is clear that the demand of Israel Beiteinu to impose the death penalty on terrorists is justified.”

Before pulling out of the coalition government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Liberman had pushed for a tougher death penalty law against terrorists. Although the bill proposed by Liberman’s party passed a preliminary vote in January, the Knesset dissolved before the legislation could proceed further.