Jerusalem, Israel. Israel’s parliament passed a law on Monday making death by hanging a default sentence for Palestinians convicted in military courts of deadly attacks, fulfilling a pledge by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right allies.
Scope and application
The law would only apply to Israelis convicted of murder whose attacks aimed at “ending Israel’s existence”, meaning it would mete out the death penalty for Palestinians but not for Jewish Israelis who committed similar crimes, critics say.
Sentencing and execution provisions
The measure includes provisions requiring an execution by hanging within 90 days of sentencing, with some allowance for a delay but no right to clemency. It provides the option of imposing a life imprisonment sentence instead of capital punishment, but only in unspecified “special circumstances”.
Background on capital punishment in Israel
Israel abolished the death penalty for murder in 1954. The only person executed in Israel after a civilian trial was Adolf Eichmann, an architect of the Nazi Holocaust, in 1962. Military courts in the West Bank can already sentence Palestinian convicts to death but have not done so.
Political backing and international reaction
The legislation has drawn international criticism of Israel, which is already under scrutiny for increasing violence by Jewish settlers against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and its war in Gaza. The measure was promoted by Itamar Ben-Gvir, the far-right national security minister who wore noose-shaped lapel pins in the run-up to the vote.
“This is a day of justice for the murdered, a day of deterrence for enemies,” Ben-Gvir said in parliament. “Whoever chooses terror chooses death.”
Palestinian response
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the legislation as a breach of international law and a doomed bid meant to intimidate Palestinians.
What impact do you think the law could have on tensions between Israelis and Palestinians?