Yesterday, Israel’s Knesset passed dangerous and discriminatory legislation introducing the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of carrying out deadly terror attacks. Under this law, Palestinians in the West Bank tried in military courts will, by default, be sentenced to death.
The law also applies within Israel’s civilian court system to those convicted of killing with the intention of “negating the existence of the State of Israel.” In practice, however, this provision is widely understood to purposefully exclude Jewish Israeli perpetrators of violence against Palestinians, further entrenching inequality before the law.
This legislation is being advanced at a moment of profound insecurity and regional escalation. Rather than acting to de-escalate and protect lives, the current Israeli government is choosing to pursue measures that inflame tensions and deepen division.
While National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir celebrated the bill’s passage in the Knesset over a bottle of alcohol, Israeli soldiers were risking their lives in active conflict, and civilians across Israel and the wider Middle East sought shelter from missiles and drones. The contrast is stark.
The death penalty will not bring security to Israelis or Palestinians. It will not deter violence; the security establishment has been clear about that. Instead, it marks a grave departure from the democratic values and human rights principles that Israel’s founders sought to uphold. By normalising the death penalty within a system already marked by profound inequality, this law will erode democracy even further.
Those who care about Israel’s future and the lives of Israelis and Palestinians must oppose this law clearly and unequivocally.