Israel has taken its most significant step in decades toward reintroducing the death penalty, as the Knesset passed the first reading of a bill that would mandate execution for people the state designates as terrorists. Driven by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and his far-right Jewish Power party, the bill’s passage marks a foundational shift in Israel’s legal and political trajectory—and stands in stark contrast to the country’s long-standing refusal to carry out capital punishment even when legally permitted.
The measure passed 39–16 late Monday night. As votes were counted, Ben-Gvir celebrated by handing out sweets on the Knesset floor, framing the vote as a historic victory:
“After the law is finally passed,” he declared, “terrorists will only be released to hell.”
A Law Designed to Target Palestinians
The bill mandates death for those who commit murder “with intent to harm the State of Israel and the rebirth of the Jewish nation in its homeland.”
Legal experts say the wording makes one outcome inevitable: Palestinians will be the only people eligible for execution.
The law’s criteria—intent to harm Israel as a Jewish state—would not apply to Jewish perpetrators who kill Palestinians, even in ideologically motivated attacks. This creates what critics describe as an ethnically selective death-penalty regime, unprecedented even in Israel’s own legal history.
The Palestinian Authority condemned the bill as “a new form of escalating Israeli extremism and criminality against the Palestinian people.”
A Radical Shift for a Country That Does Not Execute
The political spectacle around the bill masks a deeper truth: Israel is a non-execution state, despite formally retaining capital punishment.
A detailed review of Israeli law shows:
1. The death penalty exists only on paper
It is permitted in three narrow circumstances:
- Crimes Against the Jewish People Law (1950)
Allows death sentences for genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity — but written specifically to prosecute Nazi perpetrators.
Used once, to execute Adolf Eichmann in 1962. - Treason Law (1954)
Permits execution for treason or assisting the enemy during wartime.
Never used. - IDF Military Justice Code
Allows execution for desertion to the enemy or assisting enemy forces during war.
No soldier has ever been executed.
2. No modern court has imposed a death sentence
Even in severe terrorism cases, Israeli judges and prosecutors avoid capital punishment. The Supreme Court has repeatedly rejected it, and the President historically commutes any hypothetical death sentence.
3. Israel does not apply its genocide or war-crimes statute to current conflicts
The 1950 law is historically and legally tied to the Holocaust and has never been applied to Israeli or Palestinian actions after 1948.
This means:
- No Israeli official, soldier, or policymaker can face the death penalty for Gaza-related actions.
- Failures surrounding 7 October—negligence, intelligence breakdowns, or alleged uses of the Hannibal Directive—are not capital offences under Israeli law.
- No modern wartime conduct qualifies for execution.
As one former Israeli judge once remarked:
“The death penalty in Israel is a legal museum exhibit: it exists, but it is not used.”
Why the Far Right Wants the Death Penalty Now
The October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas—when around 1,100 Israelis were killed and 250 taken hostage—transformed Israel’s political discourse. The far right now holds unprecedented influence, and the country’s trauma has created fertile ground for proposals once dismissed as extremist.
For Ben-Gvir, the death penalty has long been a personal crusade. His party blocked previous coalition agreements until Netanyahu agreed to bring the bill to a vote. The recent Gaza ceasefire, which saw the return of 20 living Israeli hostages in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, weakened one of the main arguments against the death penalty—fear of future prisoner-exchange deals.
Jewish Power MK Limor Son Har-Melech, whose husband was killed in a 2003 West Bank shooting, gave an emotional speech in support of the bill. She said one of the attackers involved in her husband’s death had been freed in a previous prisoner exchange, later joining the October 7 assault.
“A dead terrorist does not get released alive,” she told the chamber.
Concerns About Retroactive Execution
Palestinian human-rights groups warn that the bill’s language allows retroactive application, potentially targeting hundreds of Palestinians captured after 7 October.
Israel’s Justice Minister is already drafting legislation to create a special tribunal for Gazans accused of involvement in the 2023 attacks. If both laws pass, the tribunal could pursue capital punishment.
But Could Israelis Ever Be Executed Under This—or Any—Law?
The answer remains unequivocal: No.
The new bill applies only to non-Israeli attackers acting “against the State of Israel.” Meanwhile, Israel’s longstanding death-penalty statutes are deliberately structured so they cannot apply to:
- Israeli soldiers
- Israeli commanders
- Israeli political leaders
- Israelis accused of war crimes
- Officials blamed for security failures
- IDF personnel accused of killing Israelis under the Hannibal Directive
Crucially:
- No domestic Israeli law permits execution for acts related to Gaza or the events of 7 October.
- No Israeli institution is willing to apply capital punishment under any existing statute.
- Even the ICC cannot impose the death penalty—its maximum punishment is life imprisonment.
A Country Divided on the Meaning of Justice
Supporters of the bill argue it is necessary to deter terrorism. Opponents say it enshrines a racially discriminatory legal system and risks institutionalising state violence.
The vote also occurred alongside another controversial move:
the Knesset’s first reading of a bill allowing the government to shut down foreign media outlets without court approval, effectively turning temporary measures used to close Al Jazeera in 2024 into permanent law.
A Turning Point
Israel stands at a crossroads.
The death-penalty bill reflects more than a shift in criminal justice; it marks a deeper transformation in the country’s identity, legal norms, and relationship to international law.
If passed, Israel would have a death penalty designed not for war criminals, genocidaires, treason, or state wrongdoing—but one targeted almost exclusively at Palestinians convicted of attacking Israelis.
It would represent not the revival of an old legal tool, but the creation of a new one:
an ethnically selective capital-punishment system emerging in the shadow of a country that, for over 60 years, refused to execute anyone.
