MK (National Union) Prof. Aryeh Eldad stated on Monday that anyone ceding land in Israel should face the death penalty.

Eldad made his comments to a Golan Heights lobby meeting, reading the penal code, particularly the section pertaining to acts of treason. He explained that under the law, giving away the Golan Heights, a portion of the land, is an act of treason punishable by death.

Seeking to clarify his harsh remarks so they are not interpreted as incitement to kill the prime minister, party colleague Effie Eitam explained Eldad was referring to the death sentence in a court of law, not advocating one taking the law into one’s hands.

Not wasting time, Meretz MK Ran Cohen filed an incitement complaint against Eldad with Attorney General Menachem Mazuz, drawing an analogy from his remarks to similar statements that preceded the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin. Other MKs joined in, calling on Mazuz to launch an investigation.

Eldad on the other hand, called on Mazuz to launch an investigation against the prime minister.

Opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu and other right-wing MKs also condemned the remark as inappropriate, tasteless and counterproductive.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert responded by saying the man is not worthy of a response.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)