Israel’s death penalty law degrades its democracy and global standing

As Jews across the globe were deep in Passover preparations, Israel’s Knesset reintroduced the death penalty - dormant for more than six decades, since the execution of Adolf Eichmann, its only recipient.

Aside from the immorality of employing the death penalty, the ‘Death Penalty for Terrorists’ law is deeply flawed. This should not be surprising, given that it is sponsored by MK Limor Son Har-Melech, an Otzma Yehudi party colleague of Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

Firstly, the law is inherently discriminatory: in the West Bank, “Israeli citizens or residents” are explicitly exempt from prosecution by the military tribunal. Meanwhile, for those convicted of the same offence within Israel, a civilian court judge can choose between the death penalty or life imprisonment if there is sufficient evidence to show their actions were intended to “negate the existence of the State of Israel”.

Son Har-Melech has confirmed that Palestinians will be the main targets, asserting that “there is no such thing as a Jewish terrorist”.  The Association for Civil Rights is Israel (ACRI) noted this creates “a dual and discriminatory legal system based on ethnicity, deepening racial segregation”.

Secondly, by not only re-introducing the death penalty but also expanding its scope, Israel is clearly breaching a number of sections in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), in particular articles on the Right to Life, Fair Trial Rights, Right to non-discrimination and Equality before the law.