A Yisrael Beiteinu-sponsored bill to expand the use of the death penalty in Israel has been stymied by the Ministerial Committee for Legislation, despite the fact that it enjoys widespread support among several parties.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed that a committee be set up to examine the proposed legislation, which would make it easier for courts to apply the death penalty to terrorists and harder for judges to overturn the decision, delaying the vote by three months.

The proposed bill is the fulfilment of a campaign promise by Yisrael Beiteinu, and would see the death penalty require only a simple majority among judges presiding over a terrorist’s case to be applied.

Current law requires a unanimous decision and can still be mitigated by a major general. To date, the only time the death penalty was applied in a civil court in Israel was for Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann in 1962.

The proposal enjoys the support of many MKs from different political parties, including Likud ministers Miri Regev, Ofir Akunis, Danny Danon and Ze’ev Elkin and Bayit Yehudi MK and Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked. However, there are some among the Likud who oppose the bill for political reasons, according to The Jerusalem Post. Several party members felt they should not be affording Yisrael Beiteinu, an opposition party, a political victory.

Shaked, who serves as the Ministerial Committee’s chairwoman, said during the Sunday meeting, “The death penalty for terrorists has [been in] existence since 1994, and one terrorist got it, but he was released in the Shalit deal.” A representative of the Justice Ministry, however, disagreed with the minister, saying, “Israel as a moral country will not do to murderers what they do to their victims.”

MK Sharon Gal, who proposed the law, slammed “the prime minister’s proposal to form a ‘foot-dragging committee’ which will, in practice, bury the legislation. This decision is another proof that this is a non-national government that doesn’t operate based on the principles of the national camp. Yisrael Beiteinu will raise the proposal to a vote at the Knesset this week, and I hope that until then, all of those calling themselves ‘national camp’ will come to their senses.”

“The fight against terrorism is the world’s greatest challenge in the 21st century, and all the more so, Israel’s greatest challenge,” states the bill’s explanatory note, “and yet there is a huge gap between the way Israel metes out punishments and the reality it faces. Releasing terrorists before their period of imprisonment is completed, including those who carried out the most heinous terrorist attacks, gives the opposite message and does not contribute to the fight against terrorism and Israel’s deterrent capability. The purpose of this bill is to be a significant deterrent for perpetrators of terrorist acts, knowing that Israel’s policy is becoming stricter and that it will no longer compromise regarding this type of crime. Therefore, given the reality Israel is dealing with, the death penalty is an essential deterrent.”

Regev explained her support for the bill, despite its being filed by the opposition. “Terrorists are to rot in jail and in extreme cases merit the death penalty. It’s no secret that I supported releasing terrorists on behalf of the captive soldier Gilad Shalit; however, I said that from the moment of Shalit’s return to Israel, the policy must be clear – terrorists should not be released.”

Others do not agree. Meretz chairwoman Zahava Gal-On called on the prime minister to bury the bill entirely so as not to “authorize murder sponsored by the law,” according to The Jerusalem Post.

“The proposal to sentence terrorists to death does not reflect Jewish morals or democratic values. Killing out of revenge is wrong and has nothing to do with justice,” she added.

Netanyahu said he felt that so weighty an issue should be decided by experts and not a ministerial committee. Gal plans to bring the matter to a preliminary vote in Knesset Wednesday, despite the decision of the ministerial committee, even though it is unlikely to pass without their support. Likud ministers agreed that if Yisrael Beiteinu rejected the formation of a committee to examine the proposal, they would vote against the bill.