Yesterday the Knesset passed a death-penalty law that applies the death penalty to only Palestinians in the West Bank who are convicted of deadly terrorist acts by military courts, reported The Times of Israel. ToI reports further that, while judges can opt for life imprisonment under vaguely defined “special circumstances,” the death penalty would otherwise be mandatory and be carried out within 90 days of sentencing. The sentence would require a simple majority of judges rather than a unanimous decision, while eliminating any right of appeal. The bill passed on a 62-47 vote.
“This is a day of justice for the victims and a day of deterrence for our enemies. No more revolving door for terrorists, but a clear decision. Whoever chooses terrorism chooses death,” declared a jubilant Itamar Ben Gvir, the leader of the Otzma Yehudit party, which championed the bill. Ben Gvir can be seen in photographs wearing a gold-colored lapel pin in the shape of a noose that he and other supporters of the bill have been wearing.
Supporters of the law argued that the measure will strengthen deterrence against terrorism and reduce the incentive for terrorist organizations to abduct Israelis. But senior security officials have long disputed that claim, arguing there is no evidence that capital punishment deters terrorism and warning that it could instead fuel retaliation and escalate violence, ToI reports further. Representatives of the IDF, Shin Bet intelligence agency, and government ministries voiced such opposition throughout months of Knesset National Security Committee deliberations on the legislation.
Following the bill’s passage, several opposition parties, including Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid, Arab-majority Hadash-Ta’al, and the left-wing Democrats party, along with several human rights organizations, announced that they would petition the High Court of Justice to nullify the law. “This is an immoral law that contradicts the foundational values of the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, and the provisions of international law that Israel has undertaken to uphold,” said Democrats MK Gilad Kariv, who has been among the law’s fiercest opponents.
