The Israeli Knesset passed a bill on Monday that mandates the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of deadly “acts of terror,” an effort that was led by Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, leader of the Jewish power party, who was seen celebrating with champagne after the vote.
The bill is designed to apply exclusively to Palestinians by mandating the death penalty for a “terrorist” convicted of killing a person “with the intent to deny the existence of the State of Israel.” According to Haaretz, the law is now applicable in any territory that Israel effectively controls, which includes the occupied West Bank and more than 50% of the Gaza Strip.
In his remarks on the vote, Ben Gvir made clear that the bill was designed to execute only those convicted of killing Israeli Jews. “The State of Israel is changing the rules of the game today: whoever murders Jews will not continue to breathe and enjoy conditions in prison. This is a day of justice for the victims and a day of deterrence for our enemies,” he said.
The bill was supported by 62 lawmakers in the Knesset, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Forty-eight Knesset members voted against the legislation, and one abstained.
The Israeli rights group B’Tselem strongly condemned the bill and noted the high conviction rate in Israeli military courts where Palestinians who live in the West Bank are put on trial.
“The penalty – execution by hanging – must be carried out within 90 days of sentencing, with no possibility of pardon. The death penalty will be determined in military courts where only Palestinians are tried,” B’Tselem said.
“These courts have an approximately 96% conviction rate, based largely on ‘confessions’ extracted under duress and torture during interrogations. The law allows military judges no discretion and requires them to sentence Palestinians convicted of murder to death, except in ‘special circumstances,'” the rights group added.
The Palestinian Authority also strongly denounced the bill, with the Palestinian Presidency saying that it “amounts to a war crime against the Palestinian people and comes within the broader context of escalating Israeli policies and measures across the occupied Palestinian territories, including the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem.”
