Israel passes death penalty law for Palestinians convicted of lethal attacks

Israel's new law mandates death penalty for Palestinians convicted in military courts, sparking widespread criticism and calls for resistance.

In Short

• Israel's parliament passed a law imposing death by hanging for Palestinians convicted of deadly attacks
• Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the law
• International criticism targets the law as discriminatory and violating democratic principles

Israel’s parliament on Monday passed a law making death by hanging the default sentence for Palestinians convicted in military courts of deadly attacks, delivering on a key pledge by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right allies. The legislation has triggered sharp international criticism, with opponents calling it discriminatory and unconstitutional.

The law applies to Israelis convicted of murder only if the attack was aimed at “ending Israel’s existence,” a provision critics say effectively ensures the death penalty would be imposed on Palestinians but not Jewish Israelis accused of similar crimes.

Under the measure, executions must be carried out within 90 days of sentencing, with limited scope for delay and no right to clemency. Courts may instead impose life imprisonment, but only in unspecified “special circumstances.”

Israel abolished the death penalty for murder in 1954. The only person executed in Israel after a civilian trial was Adolf Eichmann, an architect of the Nazi Holocaust, in 1962. While military courts in the occupied West Bank already had the authority to impose death sentences on Palestinian convicts, they had never exercised it.

The law was championed by far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who wore noose-shaped lapel pins ahead of the vote.

"This is a day of justice for the murdered, a day of deterrence for enemies," Ben-Gvir said in parliament. "Whoever chooses terror chooses death," news agency Reuters quoted.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the law as a violation of international law and an attempt to intimidate Palestinians.

"Such laws and measures will not break the will of the Palestinian people or undermine their steadfastness," Abbas' office said in a statement, as reported by Reuters.

"Nor will they deter them from continuing their legitimate struggle for freedom, independence, and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital."

Hamas and Islamic Jihad denounced the legislation and called for retaliatory attacks, further raising concerns over escalating violence in the region.

Israeli rights groups described the law as “an act of institutionalised discrimination and racist violence against Palestinians.” The Association for Civil Rights in Israel said it has appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing the legislation violates democratic principles and is likely unconstitutional.

The bill passed with the support of 62 members in the 120-seat Knesset, with Netanyahu voting in favour after reportedly seeking softer provisions to limit international backlash.

The legislation also drew criticism from the foreign ministers of Germany, France, Italy and Britain, who said it had a “de facto discriminatory” character toward Palestinians. U.N. experts also warned that vague definitions of “terrorist” in the law could allow capital punishment for conduct that is “not genuinely terrorist”.

Amnesty International reiterated that there is “no evidence that the death penalty is any more effective in reducing crime than life imprisonment”.

The law marks the latest step by Netanyahu’s nationalist-religious coalition amid growing global scrutiny over settler violence in the West Bank and the war in Gaza. Legal experts in Israel say the Supreme Court could still strike it down.

- Ends
with agency inputs