FUNERAL FURY IN HOD HASHARON: Ben Gvir Demands Executions And Deportation Of Terrorists' Families

 

Israel's National Security Minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, used the funeral of Sgt. Yuval Shai Svilem on Sunday, October 25, 2026, to demand a much harder line against terrorists. Svilem, 20, was one of two soldiers killed in Friday's shooting attack at Judea Junction near Hebron. Ben Gvir called for the execution of Palestinian terrorists, for the deportation of their families, and for the dismantling of the Palestinian Authority, which he labeled the "Palesti-Nazi Authority." "They are Nazis! They educate children to murder and name public squares after murderers," he said. "They cannot continue to be here."

The remarks land on a charged backdrop. The Knesset passed a death penalty law championed by Ben Gvir in March, requiring courts to impose it on West Bank Palestinians convicted of deadly terror attacks unless special circumstances apply, and he has since announced construction of a gallows. Critics call the law discriminatory because it applies only to West Bank Palestinians, while supporters say terrorists deserve the harshest punishment. Reports of the funeral speech did not say how deportations or dismantling the PA would be carried out. The speech came just two days before Israel's election, and Ben Gvir later urged voters on social media to back his Otzma Yehudit party.