(JNS) – National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir on Tuesday visited a facility where terrorists found guilty of murder will be hanged. The site, currently under construction, is located in central Israel. Its exact location has not been revealed.
The facility will include a “dedicated wing” where terrorists sentenced to death will be transferred and await hanging. It will also include the gallows, which will be located in the center of that wing. Viewing booths will allow surviving victims and their families to watch the proceedings. Of the viewing booths, Ben-Gvir said that this is customary in other countries, including the United States.
While many, but not all, terrorists who carry out attacks in Israel are killed in the act by security forces, Ben-Gvir said that those that do survive will meet their fate at the facility behind him.
“We are making history,” he declared. “Terrorists deserve only one thing: death by hanging.”
With national elections scheduled for Oct. 27, the National Security Minister appealed to his base in a video post, stressing that he has kept his electoral promises.
“I promised to worsen the conditions of terrorists in prisons. It was fully carried out. I promised to pass the death penalty law for terrorists. That’s done. I promised to establish a [hanging] facility. And that’s carried out,” he said, pointing to the construction site behind him.
The death penalty law the minister referred to was passed by the Knesset on March 30 by a vote of 62-48. The law was sponsored by a member of his Otzma Yehudit Party, whose husband was killed in a terrorist attack.
“From now on, every mother in Judea and Samaria will know that if her son goes out to murder, his sentence is the gallows,” Ben Gvir said at the time.
In 2023, Ben Gvir also tightened restrictions on security prisoners, those held for nationalistically motivated attacks or membership in terrorist groups.
He reduced shower times, closed prison bakeries and banned family visits. His separate ban on visits by Knesset members to prisoners was overturned by Israel’s Supreme Court in April 2026.