Published: 1 April 2026
Last updated: 1 April 2026
Australia’s leading Jewish advocacy bodies have spoken out against the discriminatory character of Israel’s new death penalty law, with the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) all but calling on the Australian government to oppose it.
The legislation, which was passed this week by the Knesset, effectively applies the death penalty to West Bank Palestinians convicted of murdering Israelis but not vice-versa. Under the bill, there is no requirement for a unanimous verdict, no pardon provision, and executions must be carried out within 90 days of sentence confirmation.
“The Act applies differential standards based on nationality alone. This falls well short of the principle of equal justice,” ECAJ said in a statement.
“Australia has a proud and consistent record of opposing the death penalty in all circumstances, for all people,” ECAJ added, which made clear its sentiment while stopping just short of urging the government to act.
The Zionist Federation of Australia (ZFA) also strongly criticised the discriminatory application of the law. “This legislation creates parallel legal tracks that apply different standards depending on the nationality of the accused,” ZFA posted on social media.
Israel's own Attorney-General opposes law
“That is not our characterisation alone. Israel’s own Attorney-General’s office, its security establishment and its Foreign Ministry raised objections to the bill. These were not the voices of Israel’s critics. They were the voices of Israel’s institutions.
Comments2
Joseph Silver13 April at 12:24 pm
Israel faces a uniquely challenging reality:
For over a century, even before its establishment, Israel has been the target of
continuous, brutal, and escalating terrorism. No other country confronts a threat of
such sustained intensity and scale.
Existing punitive measures have proven insufficient as a deterrent. Life
imprisonment is not always final. Many terrorists do not serve their full sentences
and are often released by prisoner exchanges, which in turn incentivizes further
terrorism and abductions.
This phenomenon reached an unprecedented peak on October 7, marked by a
mass, systematic, and exceptionally brutal massacre. The most severe of its kind
since the Holocaust. Targeting women, children, and infants including mass
abduction of families from their homes and kidnapping of bodies.
·These acts are part of a broader strategy aimed at constraining Israel’s ability to
exercise its right of self-defense against Gaza and Hamas, by leveraging hostages
as a means of deterrence.
Israel must take action to break this cycle of atrocities and eliminate the incentives
for acts of terror, murder, and the abduction of civilians. This forms the basis for the
proposed legislation.
Karl Reed1 April at 01:50 pm
I am a Jew.. I oppose the Israeli actions in Gaza and beyond as immoral, illegal and a threat to the long-term existence of Israel.
This step-creating separate laws based upon ethnicity and religion-is outrageous and smacks of what has been reported in Nazi Germany under the Third Reich.. not even they had separate crime with death penalties only for Jews. Thanks to the Australian Jewish bodies that are speaking out.