Israel’s parliament passed a highly controversial bill on Monday that would impose the death penalty on Palestinians convicted of deadly attacks, a decision immediately criticized as discriminatory and swiftly challenged in court. Sixty-two lawmakers, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, supported the legislation, while 48 voted against it. One member abstained, and several others were absent. The bill was championed by far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who famously wore a noose-shaped lapel pin leading up to the vote. After the approval, he celebrated on social media, declaring, “We made history!!! We promised. We delivered.”
Under the new law, Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank found guilty of intentionally carrying out deadly attacks, defined as “acts of terrorism” by Israeli military courts, would face execution by hanging. While the death sentence is considered the default, the legislation allows for a reduction to life imprisonment under “special circumstances.” Palestinians in the West Bank are automatically tried in military courts, while Israeli criminal courts—handling Israeli citizens, Palestinian residents, and East Jerusalem Palestinians—would sentence anyone causing the death of an Israeli citizen with the intent of undermining the state to either death or life imprisonment. The law sets a 90-day window for executions, with possible postponements up to 180 days.
Human rights groups immediately condemned the law. The Association for Civil Rights in Israel filed a Supreme Court petition challenging the legislation, arguing that it establishes “two parallel tracks” that disproportionately target Palestinians. In military courts, the near-mandatory death penalty applies exclusively to West Bank Palestinians, while civilian courts’ language effectively excludes Jewish perpetrators. Miriam Azem, international advocacy coordinator at Adalah, warned that the law would worsen abuses of Palestinians, which have surged since the outbreak of the Gaza war.
Debates in parliament exposed deep divisions. Opposition lawmaker and former deputy Mossad director Ram Ben Barak criticized the bill, highlighting its discriminatory nature. “There is one law for Arabs in Judea and Samaria, and a different law for the general public,” he said, referencing the West Bank by its Israeli name. Conversely, lawmaker Limor Son Har-Melech, whose husband was killed in a Palestinian militant attack, urged approval, framing it as a response to a long cycle of terror and prisoner releases.
The Palestinian Authority denounced the legislation, asserting that Israel has no sovereignty over Palestinian territories and labeling the law an attempt to legitimize extrajudicial killings. Hamas called the move “a reflection of Israel’s approach based on killing and terrorism.” International human rights organizations and Western governments, including Amnesty International and officials from Britain, France, Germany, and Italy, expressed concern that the law undermines democratic principles and discriminates against Palestinians.
While Israel technically retains the death penalty for certain crimes, it has rarely been applied in practice. The last execution was of Adolf Eichmann in 1962, and the country is widely considered de facto abolitionist. The new law comes amid escalating violence in the West Bank and Gaza following Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attacks, which triggered a war that continues to fuel tensions across the region.
