{"id":373930,"date":"2026-03-31T01:55:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T01:55:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/373930\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T01:55:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T01:55:09","slug":"condemnation-as-israel-passes-law-imposing-death-penalty-on-convicted-palestinians-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/373930\/","title":{"rendered":"Condemnation as Israel passes law imposing death penalty on convicted Palestinians \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Israel<\/a>\u2019s parliament has passed a law imposing the death penalty on Palestinians<\/a> convicted of fatal attacks, a measure sharply criticised as discriminatory by European countries and rights groups.<\/p>\n

The legislation makes the death penalty the default punishment for Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank found guilty of intentionally carrying out deadly attacks deemed acts of terrorism by a military court.<\/p>\n

According to the Bill, those sentenced to death will be held in a separate facility with no visits except for authorised personnel, with legal consultations conducted only by video-link. Executions will be carried out within 90 days of sentencing.<\/p>\n

In a statement, Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee<\/a> said Ireland condemned the law and urged Israel not to proceed with it. <\/p>\n

\u201cIreland is consistently and strongly opposed to the use of the death penalty in all cases and in all circumstances,\u201d she said. \u201cI am particularly concerned about the de facto discriminatory nature of the Bill as it relates to Palestinians.\u201d<\/p>\n

Israel has rarely used the death penalty, applying it only in exceptional cases. The Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann was the last person to be executed, in 1962.<\/p>\n

Israel\u2019s national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, one of the Bill\u2019s strongest backers, has repeatedly worn a noose-shaped lapel pin, symbolising executions under the proposal. He described hanging as \u201cone of the options\u201d alongside the electric chair or \u201ceuthanasia\u201d, claiming some doctors had offered to assist.<\/p>\n

A security committee made some amendments to the Bill, which last week passed its first vote. Israel\u2019s public broadcaster KAN reported that executions would be carried out by hanging.<\/p>\n

The measure will allow courts to impose the death penalty without a request from prosecutors and without requiring unanimity, instead permitting a simple majority decision. Military courts in the occupied West Bank will also be empowered to hand down death sentences, with the defence minister able to submit an opinion.<\/p>\n

For Palestinians under occupation, the Bill closes off avenues for appeal or clemency, while prisoners tried inside Israel could have their sentences commuted to life imprisonment.<\/p>\n

The legislation, initiated by the far-right Otzma Yehudit party led by Ben-Gvir, has drawn sharp criticism from opponents who warned it would mark a significant escalation in Israel\u2019s penal policy. <\/p>\n

Military officials and ministries have said the Bill could breach international law and expose Israeli personnel to arrest abroad. <\/p>\n

Once enacted, the law formally enters into force but it can still be reviewed \u2013 and potentially struck down \u2013 by Israel\u2019s supreme court.<\/p>\n

Directly before voting began, Ben-Gvir made a bellowing speech from the podium, describing the law as long overdue and a sign of strength and national pride.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom today, every terrorist will know, and the whole world will know, that whoever takes a life, the state of Israel will take their life,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

When the measure passed, the chamber erupted into cheers and Ben-Gvir brandished a bottle in celebration. The Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, who had come to the chamber to vote yes in person, sat motionless.<\/p>\n

Israel\u2019s leading rights groups decried the law as \u201can act of institutionalised discrimination and racist violence against Palestinians\u201d. The Association for Civil Rights in Israel said it filed an appeal against the law with Israel\u2019s supreme court.<\/p>\n

The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, condemned the legislation as a breach of international law and a doomed bid meant to intimidate Palestinians.<\/p>\n

\u201cSuch laws and measures will not break the will of the Palestinian people or undermine their steadfastness,\u201d his office said in a statement. \u201cNor will they deter them from continuing their legitimate struggle for freedom, independence and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.\u201d \u2212 Guardian <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Israel\u2019s parliament has passed a law imposing the death penalty on Palestinians convicted of fatal attacks, a measure…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":373931,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,1556,3410,43,4268,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-373930","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-helen-mcentee","10":"tag-israel","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-palestine","13":"tag-top-news","14":"tag-top-stories","15":"tag-topnews","16":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373930","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=373930"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373930\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/373931"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=373930"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=373930"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=373930"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}