Israel passes death penalty law for Palestinians convicted of lethal attacks against Israelis
The law, which was long lobbied for by Israel’s far right, quickly drew a legal challenge
The Israeli parliament passed a law on Monday mandating the death penalty for West Bank Palestinians convicted of carrying out deadly attacks against Israelis.
The law, approved by the Knesset in a vote of 62–48 following nearly 12 hours of debate, marks a victory for Israel’s far-right after a years-long push to increase penalties for Palestinians convicted of lethal attacks. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu voted for the measure.
“This is a day of justice for the victims and a day of deterrence for our enemies. No more revolving door for terrorists, but a clear decision. Whoever chooses terrorism chooses death,” far-right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said.
The legislation has drawn widespread opposition from critics in Israel and abroad, including Israeli justice officials, progressive Jewish groups and several European governments.
In a joint statement published on 29 March, the foreign ministers of Germany, France, Italy and the United Kingdom said they were “deeply concerned” the bill would “significantly expand the possibilities to impose the death penalty in Israel” and warned of its “de facto discriminatory character”.
“The adoption of this bill would risk undermining Israel’s commitments with regards to democratic principles,” they said, adding: “The death penalty is an inhumane and degrading form of punishment without any deterring effect… The rejection of the death penalty is a fundamental value that unites us.”
They urged Israeli lawmakers to abandon the legislation.
The UK’s Progressive Jewish movement also condemned the move. Movement for Progressive Judaism said in a statement it opposed the Knesset’s passage of the law, warning it represented a dangerous escalation in the use of state power.
“This is not a serious security measure. It is a dangerous act of political extremism,” the group said.
“A state does not become stronger by giving itself greater power to kill. It becomes weaker when it abandons restraint, equality before the law and the moral seriousness that justice demands.”
The statement added that the law appeared “designed to apply overwhelmingly to Palestinians tried in military courts”, warning: “That is not justice. It is discrimination written into law.”
Critics also warned the measure could inflame tensions rather than deter violence.
“Israeli security experts have repeatedly warned that measures like this do not deter violence,” the statement continued. “They risk inflaming it, increasing danger to hostages, deepening hatred, and further corroding Israel’s democratic foundations.”
Minutes after the legislation’s passage, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel said it had petitioned the country’s highest court to strike down the law, calling it “discriminatory by design.” The current right-wing government has sought to weaken the court’s authority.
The law does not explicitly state it applies only to Palestinians, but mandates death by hanging as the default punishment for non-Israelis convicted in military courts of deadly nationalist attacks. Only West Bank Palestinians are tried in such courts.
Judges may impose life imprisonment under unspecified “special circumstances”, but the death penalty would otherwise be mandatory.
A separate provision allows courts to impose the death sentence on Israeli citizens tried in civilian courts, but only in cases involving attempts to “negate the existence of the State of Israel” – a threshold experts say would likely exclude Jewish extremists.
The law will not apply retroactively to militants held over the 7 October 2023 attacks, who are the subject of separate legislation.
Opponents say the measure risks further fuelling accusations that Israel operates a discriminatory legal system.
Mickey Gitzin, acting CEO of the New Israel Fund, said the law “strikes at the core of liberal democracy”.
“Make no mistake: this is a death-penalty law for Arabs alone. Its message is unmistakable – Jewish lives matter, Arab lives are cheap,” he said.
Rabbi Jill Jacobs, CEO of T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, described the legislation as a “sign of Israel’s dangerous slide into violent populism”.
“This legislation moves Israel away from justice rooted in dignity, restraint, and equality, and toward a politics of vengeance that endangers lives and erodes the moral foundations of the state,” she said.
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