Israeli Parliament Backs Plan to Introduce Death Penalty Targeting Palestinians
Image Credit: News Agencies via Al Jazeera
Israel’s parliament on November 11 passed the first reading of a bill that would impose the death penalty on individuals convicted of killing Israelis with the “objective of harming the state of Israel or the rebirth of the Jewish people”. The bill’s wording means it would apply almost exclusively to Palestinians.
The legislation would also allow Israeli military courts in the West Bank to impose death sentences by majority vote rather than unanimity, and would remove the option of commuting such sentences.
Israeli law currently permits capital punishment though it was last used in 1962 to execute Adolf Eichmann.
The proposal, introduced by far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, passed its initial vote in the 120-member Knesset by 39 votes to 16. The bill must pass two more readings before becoming law.
Ben Gvir is a key ally in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition and described the bill as “the most important in Israel’s history”. He has previously been convicted for incitement to racism by Israeli courts and is a known supporter of Baruch Goldstein, an Israeli terrorist who murdered 29 Palestinians in a mosque.
The bill was strongly opposed by Hadash, a party consisting of Palestinians with Israeli citizenship. It was also opposed by Jewish Israeli parties Degel HaTorah and Yesh Atid. Opposition leader Yair Lapid told Israeli media he would not support the proposal, calling it a “political stunt”.
The proposed bill was denounced by human rights organisations. Amnesty International issued a statement warning that it represents “a blatant manifestation of Israel’s institutionalised discrimination against Palestinians, a key pillar of its system of apartheid in law and practice”.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry warned that the bill represents a grave escalation in Israel’s systemic violence and disregard for international law. It described it as a “new manifestation of Israeli extremism and criminality against the Palestinian people”.