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MORDECHAI KREMNITZER — KHALID GHANAYIM
The aggravated circumstances are 11: (1) Ihe act was committed after planning
or after a real process of weighting and crystallization of a decision to kill;? (2)
The act was committed with the purpose of enabling or assisting the perpetration
of another offense, or with the purpose of hiding another offense or enabling
the escape from justice after committing another offense. The other offense is
an offense punished by 7 years of imprisonment or more;”° (3) The victim was a
witness in a criminal trial or was expected to deliver a testimony in a criminal trial
or a judge in a criminal trial and the act was done with the purpose to prevent or
thwart an investigation or a judicial process; (4) The act was done out of a motive
of racism or hostility of a group; (5) The homicide was committed as a punitive
action intended to impose authority or instill fear and to impose ways of conduct
on a group;* (6) The victim is his partner and the act was done after systematic or
continuous abuse of the victim, physically or mentally; (7) The act was done with
special cruelty or during a physical or mental abuse of the victim; (8) The victim
is helpless, a minor under 14, or a minor under 18 that the perpetrator is under
duty to protect ; (9) The act was done while creating a real danger to an additional
person, other than the victim; (10) The homicide act is a terror act, as defined in the
Law of Combat Against Terrorism;? (11) The act was committed in the framework
of the activity of a criminal organization or a terroristic organization in order to
pursue the objectives of this organization.*?
28 On Premeditation see also Mordechai Kremnitzer, On Premeditation, Buffalo Criminal
Law Review 1 (1998), 627-660.
2° While according to the former law, killing during the perpetration of an offense or the
preparation to commit it constitutes an aggravating, the new law rejecting this aggravating
and requires a causal relation in the sense of purpose between the other offense and killing.
One might reject the limitation of the severe offense; it can be argued that precisely
when killing is associated with minor offense, such as misdemeanor, the contempt it
displays for human life increases; see also Mordechai Kremnitzer — Khalid Ghanayim, The
Elements of aggravated Murder according to sec. 301A(a)(2) Penal Code, Law & Government
2021, 311 (in Hebrew).
30 See Kremnitzer — Ghanayim, Honor Killing - An Aggravated Murder?
31 Due to the broad definition of terror acts — as an act of violence with a knife or a weapon,
committed out of a religious, political or ideological motive (not accompanied with a
purpose of instilling fear or influencing policy) becomes aggravated murder. This seems
to be unjustified. The aggravating factor in terroristic activity is the special impact of fear
caused by these acts. When this factor is missing, aggravation loses its ground. The mere
fact that the killing is committed out of a non-egoistic motive does not make it more severe.
32 The proposal of the committee included additional circumstances, such as: the victim is
a public employee in law enforcement bodies and the act was done in connection to his/
her role; the victim is an elected official where the act was done in connection with his
role; and the act was done to satisfy a sexual instinct or a lust to kill. These circumstances
were rejected by the Government and Parliament (with the exception of a judge acting in
a criminal trial), because of the difficulty to find a valid principle for distinction between
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