Controversial law for Palestinian attackers passes despite criticism
Juia Frankel
Jerusalem: The Israeli Parliament has passed a law approving the death penalty for Palestinians found guilty of killing Israelis.
The bill’s passage on Monday (Israeli time) marked the culmination of a years-long push by Israel’s far-right to increase penalties for Palestinians convicted of nationalist crimes against Israelis. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu personally came to the parliament to vote yes.
The law makes the death penalty (hanging) the default punishment for West Bank Palestinians convicted of nationalist murders. The law also gives Israeli courts the power to impose the death penalty or life imprisonment on its own citizens. It is not retroactive and will apply only to future cases.
While the measure in question was harshly condemned by Israeli and Palestinian human rights groups, it was stated that it was racist, cruel and unlikely to deter attacks by Palestinian attackers.
Critics include Israelis and Palestinians, international rights groups and the United Nations. They say it has established a hierarchy among Israeli court systems that limits the death penalty to Palestinians found guilty of killing Jewish citizens in Israel.
When the measure was passed, cheers started in the hall. Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s firebrand national security minister who spearheaded the law’s passage, waved a bottle in celebration. Netanyahu sat motionless.
Far-right lawmaker Limor Son Har-Melech, one of the original sponsors of the bill, wiped tears from his eyes. Har-Melech’s first husband was killed in an attack by Palestinian militants in the West Bank.
Within minutes, the Israeli Civil Liberties Association said it had filed a petition with Israel’s highest court challenging the law, saying it was “discriminatory by design” and “enacted without legal authority” against Palestinians in the West Bank.
The law stipulates that the death penalty comes into force within 30 days.
Just before the voting began, Ben-Gvir, who has been sanctioned by Australia and other countries over settler violence in the West Bank and advocates the displacement of Gazans, gave a shouted speech from the podium.
He said the law was long overdue and a sign of strength and national pride.
“From today on, every terrorist will know and the whole world will know that whoever takes life, the State of Israel will also take life,” he said.
He wore his signature pin on his lapel: a small metal noose.
The bill instructs military courts to sentence those found guilty of killing an Israeli “as an act of terrorism.” Such courts only try West Bank Palestinians who are not Israeli citizens. The bill states that military courts may commute the sentence to life imprisonment in “special cases”.
Israeli courts that try Israeli citizens, including Palestinian citizens of Israel, can choose between life imprisonment or the death penalty in cases of murder intended to harm Israeli citizens and residents or committed “with the intent to deny the existence of the state of Israel.”
Amichai Cohen, a senior fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute’s Center for Democratic Values and Institutions, said this distinction is problematic.
“This will apply in areas where there are military courts, which are Palestinian courts. It will apply in Israeli courts, but only for terrorist activities motivated by the desire to undermine the existence of Israel. This means that Jews will not be charged under this law,” he said.
Cohen added that according to international law, the Israeli parliament should not make laws in the West Bank, which is not sovereign Israeli territory. Many in Netanyahu’s far-right coalition are trying to annex the West Bank to Israel.
The lawyer of the Parliament’s National Security Committee has expressed various concerns in previous meetings, stating that this does not allow amnesty, contrary to international conventions. The bill states that executions must be carried out within 90 days of sentencing.
Although Israel technically has the death penalty on the books as a possible punishment for acts of genocide, wartime espionage, and some terrorist crimes, the country has not executed anyone since Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann in 1962.
The bill will not be applied retroactively to any of the militants who attacked Israel on October 7, 2023 and are held by Israel. A separate bill regarding the punishment of attackers is also being considered.
Some opposition lawmakers worry the bill could harm future hostage negotiations. Israel exchanged approximately 250 hostages taken in the October 2023 attack for thousands of Palestinian prisoners.
The Israeli Public Committee Against Torture, a local advocacy group, says the state has consistently voted in favor of abolishing the death penalty at the UN. Israel’s Shin Bet security agency had until recently objected to the practice, believing it could encourage further revenge plots by Palestinian militants.
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