There is something bizarre about using capital punishment as means of generating deterrence opposite individuals who glorify death. There is a rather amusing internal contradiction here, especially since terrorists assume death it part of the job.
Moreover, for many terrorists, death is a sublime aspiration. In the metaphysical sense it offers them eternal life, and in the materialistic, theatrical sense, revolting as it may be, it assures them the adoration of the masses.
Just put some product in your stylish new haircut, upload a new profile picture to Facebook, kill as many people as possible in a terrorist attack and become the village hero. The fact the 72 virgins, on earth and in heaven, will become your adoring fans is just the bonus.
Capital punishment cannot be used to deter those who aspire to die and it has little preventative value. On the contrary – the Israeli judicial system cannot create a situation by which the death penalty is imposed on terrorists soon after they carry out an attack. At best, we are talking about a year or two between sentencing and execution, creating a dangerous time frame during which abduction attacks could spike.
The death penalty should also not be presented as an alternative to "prison camps" funded by the Israeli taxpayers – this is perhaps the worst demagoguery of all. Israel will not become a slaughterhouse in which thousands of prisoners are executed. Even if we impose the death penalty only in exceptional cases of mass murderers, we are still left with dozens of candidates compared to thousands of prisoners.
I attribute little importance to the international community's opinions and condemnations, as I can very well see how the unapologetic Israel of the past decade has garnered far more sympathy in the global theater than its previous, apologetic version. On the other hand, it should be noted that 10 high-profile cases a year may spell the death sentence for terrorists, but they also spell collective diplomatic suicide for Israel.
The political motivation to "sell" capital punishment to the Israeli public is clear, but the real question is why has this inefficient, miserable and potentially destructive idea taken such a widespread hold among Israelis.
The answer does not lie in the "racist, violent and feeble-minded Israeli model," as the social elite sometimes contends, but rather in the nature of the elite itself, especially the judicial elite, which is hindering effective solutions, thus fostering public frustration.
The Israeli public knows that imposing punitive measures that include the expulsion of terrorists' families or the demolition of terrorists' homes would be immediately translated into sparing lives. But the same legal elite, which presents itself as a warm and cohesive family is, in fact, disconnected from the public and as a result, it passes hollow, condescending legislation that has little to do with reality or the public's wishes.
In this pressure cooker, the inherently moderate, fundamentally democratic, intelligent and life-loving Israeli public finds itself longing for a solution – any solution – even one that is essentially an ineffective, impossible and potentially immoral fantasy.
