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MORDECHAI KREMNITZER — KHALID GHANAYIM
recognizes killing the abusive tyrant by the victim of the abuse or his relative
as a homicide with diminished responsibility, with punishment of 15 years
imprisonment.” This is the most lenient case of this category.”
MURDER?!
The offense of murder reflects a severe case of homicide, which is killing by
intention to kill or indifference towards the fatal result of causing death, and
punished by life imprisonment as the maximum sentence. As mentioned, the
offense of murder, the basic homicide offense, is a severe killing but not the most
severe. This approach follows a consistent trend of the case law in support of
regarding intentional killing, whether spontaneous or premeditated, as murder.
This, even in spite the clear language of the former law demanding premeditation.”
The mental element of the new offense of murder is not only intention, but also
indifference, due to the view that indifference is very close and sometimes even
similar in severity to intention.
Indifference is an attitude of not caring whether the victim’s life will be
vanquished or not. The indifferent perpetrator does not even prefer the non¬
occurrence of the result. He cannot care less. The lack of preference implies a
complete choice of the fatal outcome of his conduct and a full reconciliation/
acceptance with this result. The perpetrator exhibits a far-reaching contempt for
human life, which brings him very close to the intentional killing. The attitude
of “could not care less” as characteristic of indifference is an extreme disregard
even denial of value towards human life.”* Therefore, murder as the basic homicide
offense is causing death by intention or indifference.
1 See text belongs to supra note 13; and See Kremnitzer — Ghanayim, Tötung des
Haustyrannen: Minderschwere Totung; Ghanayim, The Reform of Homicide Offences.
20 As mentioned above, text belongs to note 14, the sentence for the other 3 cases of diminished
liability is 20 years.
21 Section 300 of the Penal Code, Amendment 137.
2 See F.H.Crim. 1042/04 Beton v. State of Israel, 61(3) P.D. 646 (2006); the English and Irish
law defining the mental element of murder in intention.
23, On Indifference in German law see Detlev Sternberg-Lieben — Frank Schuster, in Adolf
Schönke - Horst Schröder, Strafgesetzbuch Kommentar, 30. Auflage, München, C.H. Beck,
2019, $15 paras. 72ff; on Swiss law see Stephan Trechsel, Schweizerisches Strafgesetzbuch
Kurzkommentar, Zürich, Schulthess Polygraphischer Verlag, 1992, Art. 18 para 23; on
Austrian law see Egmont Foregger — Eugen Fabrizy, Strafgesetzbuch Kommentar, 12.
Auflage, Wien, Manz, 1999, $6 paras. 12; on Scottish Law see Cawthorne v. H.M. Advocate,
[1968] JC 32; On English Law Commission, see Law Commission No. 304: Murder,
Manslaughter and Infanticide (2006) para 1.15 at p.4, p. 38; Law Commission, A New
Homicide Act for England and Wales? Consultation Paper No. 177 (2005), para 3.158 at p.
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