“Death to the terrorists,” says far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, as he pours glasses of champagne for parliamentarians. “With God’s help, we will soon execute those who kidnapped, murdered and burned one by one,” said Ben-Gvir, who introduced the proposal for the bill passed on Monday to expand the death penalty in Israel.
The amendment makes the death penalty by hanging mandatory for people convicted in military courts in the West Bank “with the intent to deny the existence of the State of Israel.” In practice, this will only apply to Palestinians convicted of killing Jewish Israelis, because only Palestinians are prosecuted in military courts.
Israel already has the death penalty, but the last time it was carried out was in 1962, when Adolf Eichmann, one of the main architects of the Holocaust, was hanged.
Human rights organizations are calling on the Israeli government to repeal the law because of its discriminatory nature. The law strengthens Israel’s “apartheid system,” with different rights for Palestinian and Jewish citizens. That system “is maintained by countless discriminatory laws against Palestinians,” said research director Erika Guevara-Rosas of Amnesty International. She calls it an “overt act of cruelty, discrimination and total disregard for human rights.”
‘Official killing mechanism’
Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem states that since October 7, 2023, the day Hamas militants broke through border walls around the Gaza Strip and killed nearly 1,200 Israelis, more than eighty Palestinian prisoners have died in Israeli prisons. According to the human rights organization, the prisons have turned “into a network of torture camps where prisoners are constantly exposed to abuse and violence.” The amendment establishes an “official killing mechanism.” [toegevoegd] to existing practices”, said B’Tselem.
Under the change in law, hanging must be carried out within 90 days of conviction, without the possibility of pardon. The law also limits access to legal assistance and visits from family members. According to B’Tselem, 96 percent of Palestinians are convicted during trials in military courts. According to human rights organizations, this often happens on the basis of ‘confessions’ that are “coerced through torture during interrogations.”
Palestinians demonstrated Tuesday in Nablus, West Bank, against the Israeli parliament’s decision to approve the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of murdering Israelis.
Photo Majdi Mohammed / AP
In addition to military courts, Israeli courts could also impose sentences on people convicted of “nationalist murder.” According to legal experts, that definition will ensure that this only applies to Palestinians with Israeli citizenship and not the Jewish citizens of Israel.
Under the change in law, hanging must be carried out within 90 days of conviction
The reasoning of the parliamentarians who voted for the amendment is that it contributes to Israeli security, but that argument is rejected by human rights organizations. Human Rights Watch sees how the law “reinforces discrimination and a two-tiered legal system [creëert] – both hallmarks of apartheid.” According to Adam Coogle, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch, the law aims to “kill Palestinian prisoners faster and with less oversight.”
Protests against the law took place in the West Bank the day after the vote. The AP news agency recorded this how hundreds of people took to the streets with protest signs with texts such as ‘Stop the law to execute prisoners’ and ‘Time is running out and silence kills’. The political party Fatah called for a general strike on Wednesday in the northern part of the West Bank. A small demonstration also took place in the Gaza Strip in front of the Red Cross building.
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‘worrisome’
Reactions from Europe are milder. The European Commission said through a spokesperson that it found the law “very worrying”, but did not want to draw any consequences from it, according to the Reuters news agency. The strongest response in Europe came from Spain. On X Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez spoke of an “asymmetric measure” that would not be applied to Israelis who commit the same crime. “Same crime, different punishment,” said the prime minister. Sánchez saw “another step towards apartheid.”
According to the United Nations, the legislation is contrary to international humanitarian law. UN human rights chief Volker Türk called the law “highly discriminatory” and called on Israel to repeal it. To the Reuters news agency, he called the lack of a possibility for pardon problematic, as well as the ninety-day period within which the execution must take place.
Relatives of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons demonstrate Tuesday at the Red Cross headquarters in Gaza City against the Israeli parliament’s decision to approve the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of killing Israelis.
Photo Jehad Alshrafi / AP
The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs also calls the law “discriminatory” and mentions in a written response that it is a “very worrying development”. The government calls on Israel not to implement the law. On Monday, Minister of Foreign Affairs Tom Berendsen (VVD) announced prior to the vote that he would support this a statement from Germany, France, Italy and the UK, where the countries also called on the Israeli parliament and government to abandon the plans.
Now that the law has been passed by Parliament, it will in principle come into effect in thirty days, although it is still ongoing a notice of objection of the Israeli Civil Rights Association at the Supreme Court. Shortly after the vote, the association announced that it would challenge the law. The association also calls the law “intentionally discriminatory” and it would also have no jurisdiction over Palestinians in the West Bank. In most cases they are not Israeli citizens.
