Rights groups say law designed to target Palestinians as Irish justice minister Helen McEntee among those hitting out
The bill’s passage in the Knesset marked the culmination of a years-long push by Israel’s far-right to escalate punishment for Palestinians convicted of nationalistic offences against Israelis. Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu came to the chamber to vote yes in person.
The law makes the death penalty – by hanging – the default punishment for West Bank Palestinians convicted for nationalistic killings.
The law also gives Israeli courts the authority to impose either the death penalty or life imprisonment on its own citizens. It is not retro-active and will apply only to future cases. The measure has been harshly condemned by Israeli and Palestinian rights groups, who say it is racist, draconian and unlikely to deter attacks by Palestinian attackers.
The Association of Civil Rights in Israel said it had petitioned Israel’s highest court challenging the law, calling it “discriminatory by design”
When the measure passed, the chamber erupted into cheers. Israel’s hard-right minister of national security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, who spearheaded the push for the legislation, brandished a bottle in celebration. Netanyahu sat motionless.
Far-right lawmaker Limor Son Har-Melech, one of the bill’s original sponsors, wiped tears from her eyes. Har-Melech’s first husband was killed by a Palestinian militant attack in the West Bank.
Within minutes, the Association of Civil Rights in Israel said it had petitioned Israel’s highest court challenging the law, calling it “discriminatory by design” and “enacted without legal authority” over West Bank Palestinians.
The legislation calls for the death penalty to go into effect within 30 days. Directly before voting began, Ben Gvir made a bellowing speech from the podium, describing the law as long overdue and a sign of strength and national pride.
Knesset member Limor Son Har-Melech from the far right-wing ‘Otzma Yehudit’ party (right). Photo: Getty
“From today, every terrorist will know, and the whole world will know, that whoever takes a life, the State of Israel will take their life,” he said. On his lapel he wore the pin that has become his signature: a small metal noose.
Critics include Israelis and Palestinians, international rights groups and the United Nations. They say that it establishes a hierarchy between Israeli court systems in a way that will confine the death penalty to Palestinians convicted of murdering Jewish citizens of Israel.
Ireland’s foreign minister, Helen McEntee, was among those who condemned the move.
“Ireland condemns the law passed by the Israeli parliament to expand the scope of the death penalty and revive its implementation in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory,” she said in a statement.
“The right to life is a fundamental human right and Ireland is consistently and strongly opposed to the use of the death penalty in all cases and in all circumstances.
“I am particularly concerned about the de facto discriminatory nature of the Bill as it relates to Palestinians.
“Ireland urges the Israeli government and parliament to not implement this law.”
The bill instructs military courts to mete out the sentence to those convicted of murdering an Israeli “as an act of terror.” Such courts try only West Bank Palestinians, who are not Israeli citizens. The bill says military courts can change the penalty to life imprisonment in “special circumstances”.
It will apply in territories with military courts, which are Palestinian courts… That means Jews will not be indicted under this law
Israeli courts, which try Israeli citizens, including Palestinian citizens of Israel, can choose between life imprisonment or the death penalty in cases of murder aiming to harm Israeli citizens and residents or “with the intent of rejecting the existence of the state of Israel.”
Amichai Cohen, a senior fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute’s Center for Democratic Values and Institutions, said this distinction is problematic.
“It will apply in territories with military courts, which are Palestinian courts. It will apply in Israeli courts, but only to terrorist activities that are motivated by the wish to undermine the existence of Israel. That means Jews will not be indicted under this law,” he said.
Cohen added that under international law, Israel’s parliament should not be legislating in the West Bank, which is not sovereign Israeli territory. Many in Netanyahu’s far-right coalition seek to annex the West Bank to Israel.
The lawyer for the parliament’s National Security Committee raised several concerns during earlier deliberations, noting that it does not allow clemency, contradicting international conventions. The bill says executions should be carried out within 90 days of sentencing.
Though Israel technically has the death penalty, on the books as a possible punishment for acts of genocide, espionage during wartime and certain terror offenses, the country hasn’t put anyone to death since Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann in 1962.
The bill will not apply retroactively to militants Israel currently holds who attacked the country on October 7, 2023. There is a separate bill under consideration dealing with punishment for the attackers.