JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s parliament on Monday passed a law making the death penalty by hanging the default sentence for West Bank Palestinians convicted of murdering Israelis in acts deemed terrorism.
The bill marks a victory for Israel’s far-right, which has pushed to escalate punishment for Palestinians following the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered the ongoing Gaza war. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attended the vote in person.
The Association of Civil Rights in Israel said it has petitioned the country’s highest court to challenge the law. In a statement posted to Instagram, the group called it “the most violent and extreme expression of this government’s attack on human rights,” adding that while much of the world has abolished capital punishment, “bloodthirsty politicians [in Israel] celebrated revenge and institutionalized cruelty.”
Under the legislation, military courts — which try West Bank Palestinians who are not Israeli citizens — must impose the death penalty for qualifying offenses, though judges may reduce the sentence to life imprisonment in “special circumstances.”
Separate provisions allow Israeli civilian courts, which handle cases involving Israeli citizens (including Palestinian citizens of Israel), to choose between life imprisonment and the death penalty in certain politically motivated murders.
The law is set to take effect within 30 days.
Israel has long had the death penalty on its books for crimes such as genocide, wartime espionage, and some terror offenses, but it has not carried out an execution since Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann was put to death in 1962.
Comment with Bubbles
JOIN THE CONVERSATION (1)
_____
Editor’s note: The Associated Press contributed to this article.