Israeli courts, which try Israeli citizens, including Palestinian citizens of Israel, can choose between life imprisonment or the death penalty in cases of murder aiming to harm Israeli citizens and residents or “with the intent of rejecting the existence of the state of Israel.”
Amichai Cohen, a senior fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute’s Centre for Democratic Values and Institutions, said this distinction is discriminatory.
“It will apply in territories with military courts, which are Palestinian courts. It will apply in Israeli courts, but only to terrorist activities that are motivated by the wish to undermine the existence of Israel. That means Jews will not be indicted under this law,” he said.
Critiques of the bill
Cohen added that under international law, Israel’s parliament should not be legislating in the occupied West Bank, which is not sovereign Israeli territory. Many in Netanyahu’s far-right coalition seek to annex the occupied West Bank to Israel.
The lawyer for the parliament’s National Security Committee raised several concerns during earlier deliberations, noting that it does not allow clemency, contradicting international conventions. The bill says executions should be carried out within 90 days of sentencing.
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Though Israel technically has the death penalty on the books as a possible punishment for acts of genocide, espionage during wartime and certain terror offences, the country hasn’t put anyone to death since Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann in 1962.
Some opposition lawmakers worry that the bill could harm future hostage negotiations. Israel exchanged some 250 hostages taken during the October 2023 attack for thousands of Palestinian prisoners.
The Public Committee against Torture in Israel, a local advocacy group, says the state has consistently voted in favour of abolishing the death penalty at the UN.