Overview
- The Knesset, which approved the bill Monday by 62 to 48 with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu voting yes, expanded capital punishment to cases tried in West Bank military courts, making death the default when military judges deem a killing an act of terrorism.
- The Association for Civil Rights in Israel filed an emergency petition minutes after the vote, calling the law unconstitutional, discriminatory, and beyond the Knesset’s authority in occupied territory.
- The statute mandates hanging and sets executions to occur within 90 days of a final conviction, with a possible delay up to 180 days.
- European governments including Germany, France, Italy and the UK condemned the law and the Council of Europe warned of consequences, while the UN rights chief said applying it could be a war crime and the United States said it respects Israel’s right to set its laws.
- National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, a far-right backer of the bill, celebrated its passage as Palestinians in Ramallah protested and families of detainees voiced fear, in a country that has used the death penalty only twice since 1948.