(Flash 90)

Israel should implement the death penalty for terrorist murderers, says a terror victims organization after the brutal terrorist slaughter of parents and children at Itamar, in Samaria, Friday night.

The Almagor Terror Victims Organization, headed by retired IDF Lieutenant-Colonel Meir Indor, also called on Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to replace Defense Minister Ehud Barak and halt the process of handing responsibility for Israelis’ security over to the Palestinian Authority.

Almagor’s call followed the brutal murders of Rabbi Udi Fogel, his wife Ruth, and three of their six young children, including a three-month-old baby, all of them stabbed to death Friday night in their bedrooms.

“What is needed now is not promises to capture the murderers, since the government regularly considers the release of terrorist murderers, holding discussions of how many and which murderers to release in a deal with Hamas,” said Dr. Aryeh Bachrach, a bereaved father of a youth killed by Arab terrorists.

“What is needed is a categorical change in how these crimes are punished, and first and foremost a mandatory death penalty,” he stated. “This is both morally appropriate and efficient in terms of security, since other types of punishment are compromised by gestures and deals in which terrorists are freed, and by unreasonably good prison conditions for terrorists.”

Previous research by Almagor has revealed that terrorists released from prison, often as “goodwill” measures to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, returned to terror and killed more than 150 Israeli civilians and soldiers.

Concerning the problem of security, Indor said, “The government must stop ceding responsibility for security to the Palestinian Authority and must return to the IDF control of the many places already transferred to the PA.”

“This requires the replacement of Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who is among those pushing for ceding control to the PA, just as he was replaced by the Israeli public with the start of the ‘intifada’ in 2000, thus allowing Israel then to resume responsibility for security.”

Security checks have been relaxed or removed in the area of Shechem (Nablus), located less than three miles from Itamar, where Friday night’s murders took place. The IDF has not yet stated whether the terrorists made use of the relaxation of security checks in order to reach the Jewish community to carry out the murders.

“This time let’s not wait for another round of murder victims,” Indor said. “The public must be reminded that Barak has not changed. During the intifada, he preserved the autonomy and security responsibilities of the PA, and refused to permit military operations in Area A [totally PA-controlled areas] despite hundreds being murdered and maimed.”

“Barak also is the man who ended Operation Cast Lead in the middle, and who ordered a frenzied retreat from Lebanon in 2000. We must respect Barak’s stubbornness and consistency and to afford him an honorable discharge.”