The initiative by the party of the right-wing extremist Police Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir (l.) is also supported by the right-wing conservative Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (r.).Image: keystone
An internationally heavily criticized law in Israel introducing the death penalty for terrorists is now facing review by the country’s highest court. A legal expert assumes that this could overturn the controversial proposal.
March 31, 2026, 2:16 p.mMarch 31, 2026, 2:16 p.m
The Israeli parliament approved the law with a narrow majority on Monday. It stipulates that the death penalty or life imprisonment can be imposed for terrorist-motivated murder with the aim of destroying the State of Israel. In such cases, the death penalty is even mandatory in Israeli military courts in the Palestinian territories; upon conviction, it must be carried out by hanging by a prison guard within 90 days.
Critics see the law as racist because it de facto only affects Palestinians. The initiative by the party of the right-wing extremist Police Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir is also supported by the right-wing conservative Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The most important thing in four points.
Ben-Gvir: “We made history”
After the law was passed, Ben-Gvir and like-minded people celebrated exuberantly and served champagne in plastic glasses. “We made history,” he said afterwards in a video message. “A terrorist who goes out to kill should know that he will go to the gallows,” said the police minister.
“And I say to the representatives of the European Union who have exerted pressure and threatened Israel: We are not afraid, we are not giving in. In our country, with our sovereignty, we will protect our citizens.”
Strong international criticism
There was sharp criticism of the law internationally. The federal government also views the adoption with “great concern”. The rejection of the death penalty is a fundamental feature of German politics, said government spokesman Stefan Kornelius in Berlin. The federal government is also concerned that such a law “would probably only apply to Palestinians in the Palestinian territories,” Kornelius added. “Therefore, she regrets the Knesset’s decision and cannot approve it.”
The President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Petra Bayr, said the vote “seriously” jeopardized Israel’s observer status at the Parliamentary Assembly of the human rights organization. Members are expected to discuss the new law during their debate on abolishing the death penalty on April 22, Bayr announced. Israel is moving away from the values of the Council of Europe, which is firmly against the death penalty.
Germany, France, Italy and Great Britain had already expressed “deep concern” about the bill before the vote and described the death penalty as inhumane, degrading and ineffective. However, her request to abandon the plans was unsuccessful.
Amnesty: Law consolidates “apartheid system”
Amnesty International called for the law to be repealed immediately and called on the international community to exert “maximum pressure” on Israel. If imposed on Palestinians in the occupied territories, death sentences could also amount to war crimes, said Amnesty regional director Erika Guevara-Rosas.
Israel abolished the death penalty for murder in 1954 and only retained it in exceptional cases, such as against Nazi criminals or in cases of treason during wartime. The execution of the German Nazi criminal Adolf Eichmann in 1962 was the last execution. Amnesty spoke of a “display of cruelty, discrimination and absolute disregard for human rights” and accused Israel of entrenching a “system of apartheid against Palestinians”.
Expert: Supreme Court could overturn law
According to expert Amir Fuchs from the Israeli Democracy Institute, the obligation to impose the death penalty creates a legal problem. “There is no such thing in any democratic legal system: a death penalty that is mandatory,” Fuchs told the Israeli TV station N12. “There must always be a margin of discretion for the court or the public prosecutor when applying for a sentence,” he said.
For him, the new law is one of “the things that courts usually overturn.” Even in democratic states with the death penalty, such as the USA, there is no compulsory death penalty.
The new law is aimed exclusively against terrorists who attack Jews, Fuchs explained. According to him, this provision would not stand up to judicial review on grounds of discrimination. A lawsuit from the Israeli Civil Rights Association is already before the highest court.
Opposition representatives had accused the members of Netanyahu’s right-wing religious government of knowingly and unnecessarily damaging Israel’s international reputation with the law – even though they also knew that the highest court would most likely overturn it. (sda/dpa)