The Red Ribbon Campaign condemned the ongoing efforts led by Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to expand the use of the death penalty, deeming these endeavors a “dangerous escalation” that could entrench discriminatory policies against Palestinians within the Israeli legal system.
In a statement, the campaign said that Ben-Gvir continues to promote “apartheid and racist policies against Palestinians,” citing his statements calling for “hanging and killing Palestinian prisoners by any means,” which, the campaign argued, makes him deserving of the title “Executioner of the Century” for 2026.
The statement added that pushing for the expansion of the death penalty within a “system already characterized by profound inequality” raises serious concerns about justice and equal legal protections, warning against the entrenchment of “irreversible punishments” within a discriminatory political and legal context.
The campaign emphasized that any official who continues to advocate for policies that allow the implementation of the death penalty “under these circumstances” must be subject to “the utmost scrutiny and accountability.” The statement highlighted a number of concerns related to these trends, including the expansion of the death penalty in a discriminatory context, which raises doubts about due process guarantees, as well as what it described as an “escalation of state violence” and the replacement of justice processes with final and irreversible punishments.
The campaign also considered these policies to be inconsistent with global trends in human rights, at a time when a growing number of countries are moving towards abolishing the death penalty, warning that pursuing these policies would “deepen division and injustice and increase tensions instead of resolving them.”
