Outcry Meets Israeli Law on Hanging Convicted Palestinians

Israel's parliament approved a law Monday making hanging the standard punishment for Palestinians convicted in West Bank military courts of deadly attacks, a move that has triggered legal challenges and criticism from abroad and at home. The measure, championed by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, requires executions within 90 days of sentencing, allows limited delay, eliminates clemency, and lets judges opt for life in prison instead. Military courts already had the authority to issue death sentences but had never used it, Reuters reports. Israel ended capital punishment for murder in 1954; the only person executed after a civilian trial was Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann in 1962.

The new law, whose opponents include Israeli justice officials, also reaches into civilian courts, mandating either life imprisonment or death for anyone found guilty of intentionally killing a person "with the intent of ending Israel's existence." The legislation passed 62-58 after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushed to soften earlier language that had required death sentences for non-Israeli citizens convicted in military courts of lethal attacks. Rights groups, including the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, have appealed to the Supreme Court, calling the law discriminatory and unconstitutional. The law is part of Israel's harder line against Palestinians since the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, per the New York Times.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the law as a violation of international law and said it would not deter what he called a legitimate struggle for statehood. Militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad urged retaliatory attacks, per Reuters. Foreign ministers of Germany, France, Italy, and Britain warned that the measure is effectively discriminatory against Palestinians and undermines Israel's democratic standards, while UN experts said vague definitions of "terrorist" could see the death penalty applied to acts not meeting that threshold. Amnesty International noted there is no evidence capital punishment deters crime more effectively than life sentences, while Israeli group B'Tselem pointed to a 96% conviction rate in West Bank military courts and allegations of coerced confessions.