The last time Israel carried out the death penalty was in 1962, when Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann was executed after a long trial in Jerusalem.
Decades later, following the Hamas terrorist attacks on October 7, 2023, Israeli lawmakers passed a new law to restore the death penalty for Palestinians convicted by Israeli military courts. A total of 62 of the 120 Knesset members voted on Monday to pass the bill, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, while 48 voted against. The rest abstained or did not attend the vote. Theoretically, the new law could still be reviewed or even overturned by Israel's Supreme Court.
What the law says
According to the text of the bill, the aim of the new law is to "introduce the death penalty for terrorists who carry out deadly terrorist attacks as part of the fight against terrorism". It also states that "a person who intentionally causes the death of another person with the intention of harming a citizen or resident of Israel, with the intention of rejecting the existence of the State of Israel, shall be sentenced to death or life imprisonment, with only one of these penalties being imposed".
The law provides for two different approaches 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 try only Palestinians living there under military law. Palestinians in the occupied West Bank convicted of terrorism in military courts will receive a mandatory death sentence. Only if the court determines that there are "special circumstances" can it commute the death penalty to life imprisonment. The new law no longer requires unanimity among all judges. A simple majority is sufficient, and the possibilities for appeal are extremely limited.
The most important law in the history of Israel?
The initiative is led by lawmakers from the far-right Jewish Power party, supported by their colleagues from Netanyahu's Likud and Israel's Home Front. According to Jewish Power leader and Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir, this is "the most important bill in the history of the State of Israel." According to him, it will have a deterrent effect - it will make terrorists "think a thousand times before committing another October 7".
Opponents of the bill, including representatives of the security services, former Supreme Court judges, doctors and rabbis, came out even before the law was adopted with an open letter, in which they defined the legislative initiative as "particularly extreme".
Domestic and international resistance to the law
According to Hagai Levin, chairman of the Israeli Union of Public Health Physicians and a participant in the discussions in the Knesset, this type of death penalty is racist. He admits that the mood of part of the Israeli public has changed, with some demanding harsher punishments after the October 7 attacks. There have been several attempts over the years to restore the death penalty, but they have not gone far.
"I was a doctor to the hostages and their families and I have seen the terrible damage to people from the killing of innocent citizens. I completely understand that some may seek revenge. But we cannot judge, driven by anger and the desire for revenge. We are a democratic country. We must make the right decisions in the interest of the country," he said.
Some 1,200 people were killed during the brutal attack on October 7, 2023, and 251 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage by Hamas. In the ensuing devastating war in Gaza, more than 70,000 Palestinians died, and many more are still missing. Several hundred Israeli soldiers were also killed.
"This Israeli bill is appalling for the Palestinian people, we oppose it. It fuels tension and fear among the families of Palestinian prisoners," Amjad Al-Najjar, spokesman for the Palestinian Prisoners' Association, told DW.
Israeli, Palestinian and international critics of the legislative initiative have said it violates the right to life, could lead to the execution of innocent people and is far from an effective deterrent. The European Union also said the law was "extremely worrying", stressing that "the EU opposes the death penalty in all cases and under all circumstances."
The Palestinian Association for Human Rights stated its written position that "the adoption of a new law imposing the death penalty exclusively against Palestinians marks a new episode in the ongoing series of oppression and constitutes a serious escalation of Israel's widespread violations against Palestinians, including hundreds of extrajudicial executions".
Journalist Tal Schneider recalls that the Israeli internal security service Shin Bet has in the past opposed such legislation, believing that it could backfire and encourage more attacks.
History of the Death Penalty in Israel
The death penalty exists in Israel for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and crimes governed by military law in military courts. In the rare cases where it has been imposed by military courts for terrorism-related crimes, all sentences have been commuted to life sentences on appeal.
Only two people have been executed after being sentenced to death in Israel. The first execution took place after the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and the creation of Israel. Meir Tobianski, an army officer, was wrongly accused of espionage and executed for treason after an impromptu military court. He was later posthumously rehabilitated. The second execution took place in 1962 - that of Adolf Eichmann, who had been detained in Argentina and tried in Israel for Nazi war crimes.
Author: Tanya Kremer