Israel Passes Landmark Law Mandating Death Penalty for Palestinian Terrorists

Israel's Knesset passed a law on March 30, 2026, making the death penalty the default sentence for Palestinians convicted in military courts of deadly terrorist attacks, fulfilling a central campaign pledge of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's far-right coalition partners. The bill passed by 62 votes to 48, with Netanyahu casting a vote in favor. The law was promoted by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, leader of the Otzma Yehudit party, who wore noose-shaped badges in the period leading up to the vote. Under the law, any person who "intentionally causes the death of another person with the aim of harming citizens or residents of Israel, with the intention of denying the existence of the State of Israel" faces the death penalty or life imprisonment. Courts retain the power to convert a death sentence to life imprisonment, and may impose the death penalty even without a request from the prosecution or unanimity among judges.

62 (votes) — Knesset members who approved the death penalty bill

Israel abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes in 1954, retaining it only in exceptional circumstances — crimes against humanity, crimes against the Jewish nation, and certain provisions under military law. In the rare cases when military courts had previously imposed death sentences for terrorism-related offenses, those sentences were always commuted to life imprisonment following the appeals process. Since the founding of the State of Israel, only two executions have ever been carried out: in 1948, when military officer Meir Tobianski was executed for treason and later posthumously exonerated, and in 1962, when Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann was hanged following a trial in Jerusalem. After the Hamas-led attack of October 7, 2023, momentum grew among Israeli lawmakers to reinstate the death penalty for Palestinians convicted by both military and civilian courts.

Two separate legal tracks target Palestinians and Israeli courts The law operates on two distinct tracks depending on the court system involved. For Palestinians in the occupied West Bank tried before military courts, the death penalty is the default sanction for terrorist-motivated murder, which judges are required to impose unless they exercise their discretion to convert it to life imprisonment. Before civilian courts inside Israel, a conviction for terrorist-motivated murder aimed at destroying the State of Israel carries either the death penalty or life imprisonment, without a mandatory default. The sentence may be carried out within 90 days of a final conviction, with a possible postponement of up to 180 days, according to the text of the law. Critically, the law is not retroactive and will not apply to Hamas members involved in the October 7, 2023 attacks, nor to any detainee currently held in Israeli custody. One ultra-Orthodox party within the coalition voted against the bill, while opposition lawmaker Avigdor Lieberman's party provided cross-aisle support.

„This is a day of justice for those killed, a day of deterrence for enemies. Whoever chooses terror, chooses death.” — Itamar Ben-Gvir via Libertatea

Former Mossad deputy director calls it a loss of values Opposition within the Knesset was vocal, with former Mossad deputy director and lawmaker Ram Ben-Barak delivering a pointed speech against the bill during the hours-long parliamentary debate. Ben-Barak argued that Hamas had effectively won by causing Israel to abandon its own values, warning that the country was beginning to act out of hatred and revenge. The chairman of the Knesset's security committee, Zvika Fogel, countered that the law represented "an important step toward restoring the deterrence of the State of Israel." Germany and other European countries had expressed "deep concern" about the legislation before the vote, according to reporting by Neue Zürcher Zeitung. The Association for Civil Rights in Israel filed an appeal with the Supreme Court within minutes of the law's adoption, calling it unconstitutional, discriminatory by nature, and, for Palestinians in the West Bank, adopted without legal basis.

„Hamas has defeated us. It has defeated us because we have lost all our values and because we are unfortunately starting to behave like them. Full of hatred. And revenge.” — Ram Ben-Barak via Le Temps

Amnesty calls executions potential war crimes, cites 99% conviction rate Amnesty International's Senior Director for Research, Advocacy, Policy and Campaigns Erika Guevara-Rosas condemned the law in the strongest terms, describing it as a "display of cruelty, discrimination and absolute disregard for human rights" and accusing Israel of consolidating a "system of apartheid against Palestinians." Guevara-Rosas called on the international community to exert "maximum pressure" on Israel to immediately repeal the law and abolish the death penalty entirely. She warned that death sentences imposed on Palestinians from the occupied Palestinian territories could "amount to war crimes." Guevara-Rosas also highlighted that the conviction rate for Palestinian defendants in Israeli military courts exceeds 99 percent, arguing that the combination of a near-certain conviction rate and a default death sentence effectively gives Israel a mechanism to execute Palestinians at will. Critics across the political spectrum have described the law as racist in its application, since it de facto targets only Palestinians — a point underscored by the structural distinction between military courts for Palestinians and civilian courts for Israeli settlers in the same territory.

99 (percent) — conviction rate for Palestinians in Israeli military courts

In favor: 62, Against: 48