Israel’s parliament approves death penalty only for Palestinians

Parliament approves death penalty

A new bill wants to bring the death penalty back from theory into practice. On Monday, Israel’s parliament approved the death penalty. 62 of the 120 members of the Knesset voted in favor of the proposal in the third reading. Until the end, the majority was uncertain, as was the pending legal confirmation by the Supreme Court.

What the death penalty law is about

The new edition is also a draconian tightening. Among other things, the current legal requirement for the death penalty should be unanimity be lifted under military judges. This condition in particular has so far prevented death sentences against terrorists in military courts.

In the future the simple majority the judge is sufficient. In the case of death sentences, the responsible military governor is deprived of his otherwise valid authority to commute sentences. The judge decides whether a trial will be conducted civilly or before a military court Minister of Defense.

In a first version, the death sentence against terrorists should even become a mandatory requirement – without the right to appeal. But the modified version of the law also further differentiates between Jews and Arabs as well as between Arabs with Israeli citizenship and Palestinians from the occupied territories. Unlike Jews and Arab Israelis, the latter are already tried exclusively by military courts.

Israel’s army and secret services are worried

The army in particular has reservations about the new law. She thinks about the possible capture of Israeli soldiers in the future. So far, pardons for convicted terrorists have formally cleared the way for an exchange of hostages or prisoners – as was the case in 2025 when terrorists were exchanged for hundreds of Israelis kidnapped by Hamas. Since death sentences cannot be commuted retroactively in the future, these deals will be made more difficult.

The ministers in the cabinet, who repeatedly delayed an exchange at the time, support the new law. They claim that the death penalty deters terrorists, as it says in the preamble. A statement that remained scientifically unconfirmed.

In addition to the army, Israel also criticized Secret services the law. Any death sentence could lead to unrest in the occupied territories, and executions anyway. Opposition also came from the National Security Council, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and legal advisers to the government, parliament and ministries. The EU foreign ministers have also sharply criticized the reactivation of the death penalty. It could complicate Israel’s cooperation with the EU in several areas.

Why Netanyahu is staying away from the vote

But criticism also came from the ranks of the government coalition itself. Not only from the last remaining liberals in Netanyahu’s Likud party – parts of the ultra-Orthodox also see problems. Their rabbis fear negative effects on Jews in the diaspora worldwide. That is why the assumption was considered uncertain until the end.

In return, there were supporters of the death penalty among opposition MPs. Former Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman set a condition: only if Netanyahu himself voted for the death penalty would he also support the law and compensate for failures in the coalition ranks.

Lieberman knows that Netanyahu has spoken out against the death penalty several times in the past. Experts therefore expected that the Prime Minister would stay away from the vote. But he has to allow it because otherwise the initiators of the law would once again threaten to break the coalition.

Ultimately, it’s not about the law, which is unlikely to survive the quality test in the Supreme Court for several reasons – it’s much more about the headlines it delivers. An excellent start to the election campaign, which will be fought out by autumn at the latest.