Israel’s death penalty law for Palestinians : Story of the Last Week

On March 30, 2026, the Israeli parliament (= Knesset), passed a controversial law allowing the death penalty by hanging for Palestinians living in the West Bank convicted of terrorism.

What’s this law about?

Let’s look at its key excerpt:

“A resident of the Area who intentionally causes the death of a person, where the act constitutes an act of terrorism as defined in the Counter-Terrorism Law, shall be sentenced to death, and this punishment only; however, if the Military Court finds, that special circumstances exist for which it is appropriate to sentence the terrorist to life imprisonment, it may impose such a sentence”

By “Area” law means Judea and Samaria, which is the West Bank of the Jordan.

And by “resident of the Area” law means a person “who is registered in the population registry of the Area or one who resides in the Area even if not registered in said registry, excluding an Israeli citizen or an Israeli resident”

💡: For the original law see here, you can find the unofficial English translation here.

Why is it controversial?

By its formulation, the law explicitly excludes Israelis from the death penalty, so it doesn’t apply to everyone equally. This is a discriminatory practice that is against the constitution which says that all people are equal.

According to the law, executions are fasttracked and stripped of safety mechanisms. The death penalty can be simply decided by a majority of the court without the prosecutor having to propose it. And the execution should be carried out within 90 days of the verdict. Convicted people should not be allowed to receive visitors in prison beforehand. And they can consult their lawyers only via video calls.

The death penalty is the default punishment unless the court finds “special circumstances” to change the sentence to life imprisonment. However, the law does not define what these “special circumstances” are, leaving it open to interpretation.

Moreover, the law is not “kosher” even according to Jewish morality… Judaic texts say, the death penalty is possible. But they also say that a court that issues a death sentence more often than once every 70 years is considered a bloody court. For this reason, some representatives of Orthodox parties also have a problem with the law.

Who wanted this law?

The law was presented by Israeli far-right political party Otzma Yehudit. After current Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu won the 2022 parliamentary elections with his right-wing Likud party, he formed a coalition with Otzma Yehudit, and other far-right parties to gain the majority in the parliament.

Otzma Yehudit is an ultranationalist, kahanist party. Kahanism is a movement aiming for the total expulsion of Palestinians from both Israeli and Palestinian territories created by Orthodox US-born rabbi Meir Kahane. Kahane later founded the Jewish Defense League and Kach party. Both of these organized numerous attacks on Arabs in the US, Israel and sometimes other countries. The Kach party was ultimately banned in Israel for its extremist views and listed as a terrorist organisation in the US.

Otzma Yehudit is sometimes considered as a kind of successor to Kach. And its leader Itamar Ben-Gvir, currently serving as Israel’s National Security Minister, is not beating the allegations… In the past, he has been convicted of incitement to racism and supporting a terrorist organization for carrying signs saying, “Expel the Arab enemy” and “Rabbi Kahane was right: The Arab MKs are a fifth column.”

The fact that the members of the party wore noose-shaped pins to show their support of the law only underlines what kind of party it is…

The law passed with 62 votes in favor and 48 against.

Are all Israelis in favor of this law?

Not all of them. Although after the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, Israel is much more radical on security issues, and the society is in favor of similar radical laws (mainly because the current far-right government fuels hostile sentiments towards the Palestinians), some Israelis, human rights organization, legal experts and Knesset members still criticise the law.

Given how discriminatory the law is, it wouldn’t be surprising if the Supreme Court struck it down. Yes, the same Supreme Court whose powers Netanyahu successfully tried to limit with his so-called “judicial reform” in 2023…

What does this law mean for Israel?

The law, naturally, doesn’t create a good image of Israel abroad… It is criticized by the United Nations, Amnesty International, and many countries including Germany, France, Italy, Great Britain, Spain or Ireland…

The law thus joins a series of Israeli controversies that are gradually increasing negative views of Israel abroad. The most recent such controversy was Israel’s preventive attack on Iran, joined by the United States. This attack destabilised the whole Middle East and skyrocketed oil prices. As a result, negative views of Israel are also growing in the US, which has always been Israel’s greatest ally – some Americans don’t consider the war in Iran an American war, but an Israeli war into which they have been dragged…

Even inside Israel, the law risks deepening divisions. Many Israelis, especially those on the political left and within the human rights community, see it as a dangerous step toward authoritarianism.

Why should we care?

Because this law does not apply equally to everyone. If we do not want to live in an Orwellian novel, then that should be reason enough

Because this law is a part of a broader current world trend, where democratic institutions are being weakened in the name of “higher good”, “greater efficiency”, or “reduced costs”. Don’t buy this

Because this is the prime example of what happens if you let extremists into your government: not only will it disrupt order in your country, and bring injustice, but it will also ruin your foreign reputation