Apr 7, 2026, 8:09 amApr 7, 2026, 8:09 am
Israel’s ambassador to Bern, Tibor Schlosser, defended the expansion of the death penalty as Israel’s sovereign decision in an interview. “I understand Switzerland’s view that capital punishment violates people’s dignity,” he agreed Tamedia.
Tibor Schlosser, Israel’s ambassador in Bern.Image: keystone
But in Israel the focus is also on the dignity of the terror victims, their families and on preventing further terrorist attacks, Schlosser said in the interview published on Tuesday.
“If a terrorist receives life imprisonment, that is not a deterrent,” he said. The prisoners would know that they would be released at the next hostage exchange. “In this way we are actually creating an incentive to commit more attacks,” said the Israeli ambassador.
The Israeli parliament approved the law expanding the death penalty with a narrow majority last week. “If a majority wants such a law, that is our sovereign decision,” said Schlosser. In addition, Israel is not the only democratic state that has the death penalty. “Now we have this law, and with it comes the question of how the law is applied,” he said. Judges would decide when the death penalty would be imposed. The ambassador said that legal recourse was open to those convicted.
The law stipulates that terrorist-motivated murder with the aim of destroying the State of Israel can result in the death penalty or life imprisonment. 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.
Switzerland rejects the death penalty
The Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) intervened with Schlosser. The head of the EDA’s peace and human rights department, Tim Enderlin, wants to personally explain Switzerland’s position to him at a meeting, as the foreign ministry announced. “SonntagsBlick” first reported on the planned conversation.
“Switzerland rejects the death penalty everywhere and under all circumstances, as it is incompatible with the right to life and human dignity,” the FDFA emphasized on Sunday in response to a request from the Keystone-SDA news agency.
Last death sentence carried out in 1962
Critics see the law as racist because it de facto only affects Palestinians. The initiative by the party of right-wing extremist Police Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir is also supported by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. A lawsuit by the Israeli Civil Rights Association is pending in the country’s highest court.
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 last execution to date was that of the Nazi criminal Adolf Eichmann in 1962. (dab/sda)