London, 11th November 2025 \u2013 Yesterday, the Israeli Knesset passed the first reading of a bill allowing the execution of Palestinian prisoners via the death penalty in Israel. The legislation was proposed by Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir\u2019s Jewish Power party and stipulates that \u201cany person who intentionally or through recklessness causes the death of an Israeli citizen, when motivated by racism, hatred, or intent to harm Israel, shall face the death penalty\u201d and bars any reduction of the sentence once imposed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The law is clearly designed to exclusively target Arabs, entrenching Israel\u2019s dual system of justice. While Jewish citizens are tried in civilian courts, Palestinians face near-automatic convictions in military tribunals. This bill would formalise Israel\u2019s apartheid policies, embedding racist discrimination against Palestinians into law and once again allowing Israel to violate international norms.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Since October 2023, Israel has committed record levels of arrests, extrajudicial killings, and abuse of Palestinians detained in Israeli prisons. It has been continually and widely reported by human rights groups that Israeli authorities have systematically subjected Palestinian prisoners to widespread torture, sexual abuse, physical abuse, medical neglect, and starvation. \u00a0<\/p>\n
The international community\u2019s failure to act has, time and time again, enabled Israel to operate with impunity and commit unchecked human rights violations against Palestinians, including the drafting of this bill, which is a dangerous and politically-motivated measure by Israeli politicians who are intent on further entrenching current conflict rather than de-escalating it. \u00a0<\/p>\n
The death penalty has been outlawed in the UK since the Human Rights Act of 1998 \u2013 yet governments that claim to champion human rights continue to tolerate Israel\u2019s systemic abuses. Abolition of the death penalty is also a cornerstone of EU law and policy, yet Israel\u2019s new bill directly violates this principle, and the EU has failed to exert its considerable diplomatic weight, exposing the hypocrisy of its proclaimed human rights commitments.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The ICJP calls on the UK and all international governments to impose deterrent sanctions and take immediate action to end Israel\u2019s impunity and hold it accountable under international law.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00d3rlaith Roe, ICJP Public Affairs and Communications Officer, said: \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAs thousands of Palestinians remain unlawfully detained in Israeli prisons, far-right Minister Ben-Gvir handed out sweets in the Knesset after the bill passed its first reading. Such heinous enthusiasm from Israeli politicians exposes the deliberate and calculated effort to normalise the killing of Palestinians with impunity. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Governments that claim to uphold human rights must act, or be complicit \u2013 and Israel, having made itself a pariah, must now be treated as one.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
ENDS\u00a0<\/p>\n
Notes to Editors:\u00a0<\/p>\n
The International Centre of Justice for Palestinians is an independent organisation of lawyers, politicians and academics who support the rights of Palestinians and aim to protect their rights through the law.\u202f\u202f\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n
For more information, or to arrange an interview with an ICJP spokesperson, please contact the ICJP news desk at\u202f[email\u00a0protected]<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n