Reported by: Tania Krämer | Edited by: Helen Whittle
Over the years, there have been several attempts to revive capital punishment in Israel, but they didn’t get very far — until now.
On Monday, Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, passed the “Penal Bill (Amendment ― Death Penalty for Terrorists),” making the controversial legislation the law of the land.
The death penalty has previously existed in Israel for war crimes. It was abolished in 1954 for ordinary crimes and in peacetime, but technically it has remained permissible for crimes against humanity or against the Jewish people, as well as under certain circumstances under martial law.
On the rare occasions the death penalty was previously handed down in military courts on terrorism-related offenses, it was commuted to life sentences following appeals.
However, in the aftermath of the Hamas-led terror attacks on October 7, 2023, there had been a new push by Israeli lawmakers to pass the highly controversial law reestablishing the death penalty for Palestinians convicted by Israeli military and criminal courts.
Proponents of the bill argued that harsher punishment was necessary after the October 7 terror attacks, and that the mood among parts of the Israeli public had shifted accordingly. Opponents of the bill argued it was unethical, unconstitutional and racist, discriminating between Jewish Israelis and Palestinians.
A total of 62 of 120 lawmakers in the Knesset voted to approve the bill on Monday, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, while 48 voted against it. The rest abstained or were not present for the vote. In theory, the new law could still be revised or even struck down by the Israeli Supreme Court.
Since the establishment of Israel, only two people have been executed following convictions carrying the death penalty. The first execution took place in 1948 when Meir Tobianski, an army officer, was falsely accused of espionage, and executed for treason. He was posthumously exonerated. The second time was in 1962 when Israel executed Adolf Eichmann, a leading figure in Germany’s Nazi Party, after a lengthy trial in Jerusalem.
What does Israel’s new death penalty law say?
According to the wording of the bill, the new law’s purpose is to “establish the death penalty for terrorists who carried out murderous terror attacks, as part of the fight against terrorism.” It further states that “a person who intentionally causes the death of another with the aim of harming a citizen or resident of Israel, with the intent of rejecting the existence of the State of Israel — his sentence shall be death or life imprisonment, and only one of these penalties.”
The law has two different tracks relating to trials in criminal courts in Israel and in military courts in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The latter are under Israeli military administration and exclusively try Palestinians living there under military law.
Palestinians in the occupied West Bank convicted of terrorism in military courts will face a mandatory death sentence or, in the wording of the bill “… his sentence shall be death, and this penalty only.”
Only if the court determines that there are “special reasons” can it then commute the death sentence to life in prison, which would be a reversal of the de facto common conduct in the military courts today. Consensus among all judges is no longer required under the new law. A simple majority will suffice, and avenues for appeal are extremely limited.
B’Tselem, an Israeli human rights organization, said in a statement released before the law was passed that “these military courts have an approximately 96% conviction rate, based largely on ‘confessions’ extracted under duress and torture during interrogations.”
A Knesset legal advisor, Ido Ben-Itzhak, criticized the bill prior to its passing, arguing that it “does not provide for the pardon of a person sentenced to death, which contradicts international conventions and could lead to complications.”
How will the new law be implemented?
The death penalty law won’t be applied retroactively or applied to alleged perpetrators of the October 7 terror attacks.
However, a separate bill may still be brought to a vote in the Knesset. The so-called Tribunals Law (“Prosecution of Participants in the October 7 Massacre Events Bill”) would establish a special military tribunal that would impose capital punishment on individuals indicted for participation in the October 7 attacks.
The Israel Prison Service (IPS) will be required to carry out the death sentence within 90 days. The prime minister can apply to the court that handed down the sentence to delay the execution by no more than 180 days. The execution, by hanging, will be undertaken by a prison service corrections officer.
Who pushed for the new law?
The death penalty bill was sponsored in the Knesset by lawmakers of the far-right Jewish Power (“Otzma Yehudit”) party, with support from lawmakers from Netanyahu’s Likud party and the conservative Yisrael Beitenu party.
Itamar Ben-Gvir, head of the far-right Jewish Power party and Minister of National Security, was one of the leading voices calling to revive the death penalty. He turned it into a populist campaign and wore a golden noose-shaped lapel pin throughout the heated campaign.
Some critics see Jewish Power’s push to approve the law as related to Israel’s upcoming elections later this year.
During Ben-Gvir’s tenure as Minister for National Security, Israeli human rights groups such as Physicians for Human Rights have reported a sharp increase in cases of abuse and torture in Israeli prisons and military detention centers.
According to Israeli human rights NGO HaMoked, at least 94 Palestinians, security detainees and prisoners died in Israeli prison or military detention facilities from the start of the war until August 2025.
Opposition to death penalty
Criticism of the bill came from different levels in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. Those who had criticized the bill prior to its passing included Israeli opposition lawmakers, security officials, rabbis, doctors and Israeli and Palestinian human rights groups.
Ramallah-based Palestinian lawyer Sahar Francis labeled the bill “very dangerous.”
“This law reflects the fascist state that Israel is becoming because it is going to be a very discriminatory law,” she told DW before the law was passed, explaining her stance by saying that the law would de facto only apply to Palestinians.
She also pointed out that according to international humanitarian law, “Israel has no right at all to implement the death penalty on occupied people in the occupied territories. It is a discriminatory law that violates international law. They never find themselves held accountable.”
Before the law was passed, Israeli opposition lawmaker Gilad Kariv (Labor) said that “the Government and coalition have subordinated themselves to a miserable, crude, immoral and irrational — from a security perspective — election campaign of Itamar Ben-Gvir.” He also called the bill “extreme” and warning of its potential effects on future Israeli hostages.
B’Tselem Executive Director Yuli Novak said prior to the law’s passing that “Israel is reaching a new low in the dehumanization of Palestinians, enshrining their cruel treatment in state law…”
Already in February, several experts on the United Nations Human Rights Council urged Israel to withdraw “a bill proposing the mandatory death penalty for terrorist acts, which would violate the right to life and discriminate against Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territory.”
The European Union also said that the bill was “deeply concerning,” stressing that the “EU opposes capital punishment in all cases and under all circumstances.”
Disclaimer: This report first appeared on Deutsche Welle, and has been republished on ABP Live as part of a special arrangement. Apart from the headline, no changes have been made in the report by ABP Live.
