The Israeli Parliament adopted on Monday night, at third reading, a highly contested law establishing thedeath penalty for terrorists. The text was approved by62 votes to 48with a favourable vote by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Presented by the radical right as a deterrent, the law aims in practice mainly at thePalestinians tried for deadly attacks on Israelisin the occupied West Bank.
According to the Associated Press, the new law provides forhangingas capital punishment for West Bank Palestinians convicted of killing Israelis in nationalist-motivated attacks. It also allows Israeli courts to choose, in some cases, between the death penalty and life imprisonment for Israeli citizens. The PA also states that the lawis not retroactiveand that it shall enter into force in30 days.
The text had been carried by far right elected officials, first among them the Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir and his political camp. A few days before the final vote, the competent committee of the Knesset had explained that the objective of the project was « to establish the death penalty for terrorists who committed deadly attacks ». This official framing gives the political logic of the text: it is for its promoters to include in the law an automatic or quasi-automatic criminal response to the deadly attacks attributed to Palestinians.
A law denounced as discriminatory
As soon as it was adopted, the text was denounced by NGOs and by some Israeli lawyers as a lawracist,Discriminationand contrary to international law. The Associated Press points out that criticisms include the fact that the law first affects Palestinians brought before military courts in the West Bank, while Israel’s judicial system already makes a strong distinction between the justice applicable to Israeli citizens and that imposed on Palestinians in the occupied territories.
TheGuardiannotes, for its part, that the text allowsMilitary Courtsto impose capital punishment onsimple majoritywithout requiring unanimity or even, according to the version prepared before the final vote, a prior request from the public prosecutor. The British newspaper also points out that the law requires enforcement within a period of90 daysAfter the conviction, with limited legal access and without family visits, this reinforced the criticisms of several human rights organisations.
This discriminatory dimension was pointed out even before the final adoption of the text. In a joint statement issued before the final vote, the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom considered that the draft contained aDe facto discriminatory characterand could undermine Israel’s democratic commitments. They also recalled that the death penalty constitutes an inhuman and degrading punishment.
An immediate appeal to the Supreme Court
The judicial challenge began immediately. The Association for Civil Rights in Israel, Israel’s leading organization for the defence of public freedoms, announced that it would seize without delay theSupreme Courtto request the annulment of the law. According to the PA, the appeal was initiated following the vote. For its part, ACRI had already indicated before the adoption that it was preparing to attack the text from its final passage, calling it a « cruel » and « racist » law.
Other legal organizations have also increased the number of warnings. Adalah, an Israeli legal centre specializing in the rights of the Palestinian minority, had alerted as early as last week that the bill was in practice targeting Palestinians and was dangerously expanding the use of capital punishment in a military setting. For this organization, the text prepares a serious break with ordinary judicial guarantees and reinforces the penal exception applied to Palestinians.
The issue of appeal to the High Court will therefore be central. The law was passed, but its application could be suspended or limited if the judges consider that it violates fundamental principles of Israeli law or the international obligations of the State. TheGuardianNotes, moreover, that several critics find the text highly vulnerable on the constitutional and international humanitarian law fronts.
A criminal turn in a country that almost never executes
The adoption of this law marks a symbolic turning point in a State that has virtually never used capital punishment. The Associated Press recalls that Israel has not carried out any executions since1962date of the death of the Nazi criminal Adolf Eichmann. The text voted on Monday is therefore not only about very rare judicial practice; He seeks to normalize, at least for certain categories of convicts, a sentence that has so far remained exceptional in contemporary Israeli history.
Lawmakers see this change as a deterrent. Ben Gvir greeted a « day of justice for the victims » and a « day of deterrence for our enemies, » according toTimes of Israel. On the contrary, however, opponents believe that the text could further fuel violence, increase tensions with Palestinians and further complicate security and diplomatic balances. In particular, the PA notes that some critics fear that the law may jeopardize future negotiations on hostages or prisoner exchanges.
A law that fits into the radical right agenda
Monday’s vote is part of a broader political sequence, marked by the growing weight of the extreme right within the Israeli coalition. The draft death penalty for terrorists was one of the camp’s political commitments, and its accelerated progress in recent days confirmed the desire to transform several ideological markers into effective legislation. The PA points out that this law meets a key promise of Netanyahu’s most radical allies, while the government remains engaged on several military and security fronts.
TheGuardianNotes also that the text comes in a climate of increased international criticism of Israel’s policy towards Palestinians, including with regard to criminal justice, detention and settler violence. In this context, the death penalty law does not appear as an isolated measure but as an additional tightening in the political and judicial arsenal targeting Palestinians.
For now, the text has been adopted, but it is immediately entering a new phase: that of the judicial and political battle around its application. Between parliamentary validation, recourse to the Supreme Court and international pressure, the law opens a new highly sensitive front within an already explosive sequence.
