On Tuesday, August 11, after 22 years without an execution in Lebanon, its parliament voted to abolish the death penalty, making it the first Arab country in the Middle East to scrap capital punishment formally. The new law replaces death sentences with life imprisonment with aggravated hard labor. And what was the only party on record in that country to oppose abolition? It should not be surprising to hear that the answer is Hezbollah.

Hezbollah argued that abolishing the death penalty might excessively reduce sentences or dilute accountability for individuals convicted of serious crimes such as bombings, terrorism-related offenses, and attacks on the Lebanese Armed Forces. In other words, they argued that the death penalty deterred crime. What might be surprising is that Hezbollah and the government of Israel, its sworn enemy, find themselves aligned on this position. Both erroneously subscribe to the “deterrence delusion” that they use as an excuse for vengeance, which is ultimately the true reason for seeking capital punishment.

The thousands of members of the group  “L’chaim! Jews Against the Death Penalty,” of which I am the co-founder, wholeheartedly celebrate this remarkable achievement for Lebanon, and for civilized humanity. Israel’s juxtaposition with Lebanon over capital punishment forces it to reckon with the extent to which its recent expansion of the death penalty places it squarely in the wrong side of history. This charged moment demands for a more detailed explanation of precisely why this is the case.

The shameful company of executing nations that Israel now keeps

In a recent Jerusalem Post op-ed, David S. Levine responded to an essay that I penned in which I had accused Israel of using the death penalty as a means of enacting vengeance for the incomparable horrors of October 7, 2023. Mr. Levine’s retort, rather than denying this charge, openly acknowledged that the death penalty is indeed “unapologetically vengeance,” which he then proceeded to justify. L’chaim has outlined ad nauseum why the insidious vengeance that is capital punishment is inherently wrong. It would be nonsensical to reiterate this reality to anyone who truly feels that vengeance is appropriate human behavior.

Instead, it might behoove death penalty supporters like Mr. Levine to consider the shameful company of executing nations that Israel now keeps in the wake of the two barbaric execution-related bills that a majority of Knesset members passed into law earlier this year. These laws place Israel squarely on a damning list of uncivilized, executing regimes across the globe.

Lebanon is but the latest country to see the light of abolition. Other newcomers to abolition are Ghana (2023), Antigua and Barbuda (2023), Papua New Guinea (2022), Sierra Leone (2021) and Kazakhstan (2021). Over 70% of the world’s........

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