The Knesset has approved a controversial bill enabling the use of the death penalty for deadly acts of terror against Israel.
The legislation, advanced by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and backed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition, passed its final vote by a margin of 62-48.
The legislation mandates either life imprisonment or capital punishment for those convicted of terror offences which resulted in the deaths of Israelis.
It defines capital offences as intentionally causing “the death of a person with the intention of harming a citizen or resident of Israel, with the aim of denying the existence of the State of Israel”, while also restricting clemency and preventing future governments from commuting sentences or releasing those convicted in potential hostage deals.
It also makes the death penalty the default punishment for nationalistic killings in military courts in the West Bank, which do not try Israeli citizens. Only in special circumstances can judges reduce the sentence to life imprisonment.
Israeli civil courts, though, are given greater discretion when trying terrorists, with the option to impose either death or life sentences. However, they can only impose a life sentence on Israelis convicted of terrorist murders of non-Israeli citizens, including Palestinians in the West Bank.
Supporters say the law is intended to strengthen deterrence in the wake of the October 7 atrocities.
Ahead of the vote, Ben-Gvir told lawmakers: “From today, every terrorist will know, and the whole world will know, that whoever takes a life, the State of Israel will take their life.”
The national security minister was filmed opening a bottle of champagne in the Knesset chamber with supporters to celebrate the bill’s passage.
VIDEO | Israeli National Security Minister Ben Gvir, outside the Knesset chamber, celebrates the passing of the death penalty law for Palestinian detainees, describing it as historic and saying, “Soon we will count them one by one.” pic.twitter.com/yc4Aan0dLf
— The Cradle (@TheCradleMedia) March 30, 2026
Though Israeli law already has the provision for the death penalty for exceptional crimes, it has been used twice since the country’s independence.
In the first case, Meir Tobianski, an IDF soldier convicted of treason via court-martial, was hanged in 1948, having been granted no lawyer or right to appeal. His case was subsequently reviewed by the military advocate general, and he was posthumously exonerated.
The other was Adolf Eichmann, the Nazi war criminal known as the "architect of the Holocaust", who was convicted of crimes against humanity and executed in 1962.
Minutes after the bill passed, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel petitioned the Supreme Court to challenge it, calling the legislation “discriminatory by design” as it would not give the option of the death penalty for Israeli terrorists convicted of killing Palestinians.
The association also argued that parliament lacks legal authority over West Bank Palestinians as they are not citizens of Israel.
Amichai Cohen, of the Israel Democracy Institute, said that, under international law, Israel should not legislate in the West Bank, which is not recognised as sovereign Israeli territory.
Gilad Kariv, of the Labour Party, criticised the provision allowing death sentences without unanimous judicial agreement. “Is this justice in your eyes?” he asked.
Internationally, the bill has also drawn concern. The foreign ministers of Australia, Britain, France, Germany and Italy urged Israel to abandon the legislation, calling it “de facto discriminatory” and saying the death penalty has no “deterring effect.”
And the UN similarly condemned the law as “discriminatory” and called on the coalition to have it repealed.
Additional reporting by Jacob Jaffa
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