Death penalty law for West Bank Palestinians convicted of deadly terrorism comes into effect

‘Terrorists who murder Jews will not sit in prison in pleasant conditions… they will pay the heaviest price’ says Defense Minister Katz

The death penalty law for West Bank Palestinians convicted of deadly acts of terrorism came into effect Sunday night, after the commander of the IDF Central Command, Maj. Gen Avi Bluth, signed the military order necessary to enact the measure in the territory.

The order requires that a military court presiding over the prosecution of terrorists whose attacks resulted in the death of a victim apply the death penalty alone as the only available sentence, unless the court finds special circumstances allowing for life imprisonment.

Following the passage of the legislation at the end of March, Defense Minister Israel Katz requested that Bluth approve the military order, which he did on Sunday.

The legislation has been widely condemned as discriminatory since it states explicitly that it does not apply to Israeli citizens or residents of Israel. It also only applies to terror trials in the military courts system, which is used for Palestinians, while Israelis are tried in Israel’s civilian court system.

In addition, one of the three conditions for imposing the death penalty is that the motive of the attacker was to either “negate the existence of the State of Israel or the authority of the military commander in the area” — motives that would likely only be applicable to Palestinian terrorists.

Several organizations and politicians have petitioned the High Court of Justice against the law, and the court ordered the state to respond by May 24.

“This is a clear and sharp change of policy after the October 7 [2023] massacre: A terrorist who murders Jews can no longer rely on [prisoner exchange] deals, [good prison] conditions, or the hope to be released in the future,” Katz and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said in a joint statement.

“Whoever chooses murderous terrorism against Jews needs to know that the State of Israel will bring him to justice all the way.”

Added Katz, “Terrorists who murder Jews will not sit in prison in pleasant conditions, will not wait for [prisoner exchange deals] and will not dream of release — they will pay the heaviest price.”

Ben Gvir lauded the signing of the military order as the fulfilment of a campaign promise of his far-right Otzma Yehudit party, saying, “We promised and we fulfilled,” and that “we do not capitulate or contain murderous terrorism, we defeat it.”

Although the law has been roundly condemned for targeting Palestinian terrorists specifically and excluding Israelis from its provisions, it is unclear if the legislation will lead to the automatic death penalty sentences that its authors seek.

The condition requiring that the terror attack be carried out with the motive of “negating the existence of the State of Israel or the authority of the military commander in the area” may be hard to prove in court in many cases, leaving judges with room to impose a prison sentence instead.