Israel’s parliament voted Monday to make the death penalty the mandatory default sentence for Palestinians convicted of deadly terrorist attacks in military courts, a landmark and deeply divisive piece of legislation that drew immediate condemnation from European allies and human rights groups alike.
The Knesset approved the bill 62 to 48, with one abstention, in its third and final reading. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cast his vote in person in favour of the measure, which enters into force within 30 days. Under its terms, West Bank Palestinians found guilty of lethal attacks classified as acts of terrorism would be sentenced to death by hanging, to be carried out within 90 days of conviction — though execution could be postponed for up to 180 days.
The legislation is not retroactive and applies exclusively to future cases tried in Israeli military courts. While Israeli citizens convicted of attacks intended to ‘negate the existence of the state of Israel’ could theoretically face the same penalty, the law’s practical application is directed squarely at Palestinians who are not Israeli citizens. Amichai Cohen, a senior fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute’s Center for Democratic Values and Institutions, was unambiguous: Jews will not be indicted under this law.
Crucially, the threshold for imposing the sentence is a simple judicial majority rather than a unanimous decision — a standard that diverges sharply from international norms governing capital punishment.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who wore a pin featuring a small metal noose on his lapel during the vote, was the driving force behind the legislation. Enacting the bill was a central condition of his Otzma Yehudit party’s coalition agreement with Netanyahu. Limor Son Har-Melech, a far-right lawmaker and original bill sponsor, lost her first husband to a Palestinian militant attack in the West Bank; one of his killers was subsequently released and later participated in the October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel.
The Palestinian Authority, which administers the West Bank, condemned the law in the strongest terms, calling it a war crime against the Palestinian people and accusing Israel of breaching the Fourth Geneva Convention. The Authority said the legislation ‘seeks to legitimise extrajudicial killing under legislative cover.’ Hamas, which controls Gaza, warned that the bill ‘threatens the lives’ of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails and urged the international community to ensure their protection.
Four major European powers — France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom — expressed deep concern on the eve of the vote, warning that the bill risked undermining Israel’s commitments to democratic principles. Their foreign ministers issued a joint condemnation on Sunday.
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel filed a petition with the country’s Supreme Court within minutes of the bill’s passage, arguing the law is ‘unconstitutional, discriminatory by design and — for West Bank Palestinians — enacted without legal authority.’ The Knesset’s own National Security Committee lawyer had previously raised concerns that the law contains no clemency provision, placing it in direct conflict with international conventions.
Human rights organisations have pointed to systemic problems within the military court system that make the new law particularly alarming. B’Tselem, an Israeli rights group, reported that the conviction rate for Palestinians tried in those courts stands at approximately 96 percent, and that many convictions rest on confessions obtained through pressure and torture during interrogations. Palestinian prisoner advocacy group Addameer reported that more than a third of the 9,500 Palestinians detained by Israel as of March 11 were held under administrative detention — imprisoned without charge or trial.
Amnesty International stated in February that the death penalty would function as yet another discriminatory instrument within what it characterises as Israel’s system of apartheid.
Israel technically retains capital punishment on its books for genocide, wartime espionage, and certain terrorism offences, but has executed only two people in its entire history. The last execution was that of Adolf Eichmann, the Nazi official who played a central role in perpetrating the Holocaust, carried out in 1962.
The passage of the law marks a significant rightward shift in Israeli penal policy at a moment of acute regional tension, and sets the stage for a protracted legal battle before the Supreme Court that could determine whether the legislation survives constitutional scrutiny.
