After years of stalled attempts to reintroduce capital punishment, Israel’s parliament approved a controversial amendment on Monday: the Penal Bill (Amendment — Death Penalty for Terrorists). The vote enacts a limited death-penalty regime aimed at people convicted of deadly terrorist attacks.
Background
Since 1949 Israel’s use of the death penalty has been highly constrained. Israel abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes and in peacetime in 1954, retaining it only for certain wartime offences, war crimes, crimes against humanity or the Jewish people, and under martial law. Only two executions are recorded in Israel’s history: Meir Tobianski in 1948, who was later posthumously cleared, and Adolf Eichmann in 1962. When military courts in the past handed down death sentences in terrorism cases, those sentences were usually commuted on appeal.
The current legislative push intensified after the Hamas-led attacks of October 7, 2023. Proponents argued the public mood demanded harsher penalties for terrorism; critics said the measure was unethical, discriminatory against Palestinians and in tension with constitutional and international law.
What the law does
The bill states its aim is to “establish the death penalty for terrorists who carried out murderous terror attacks, as part of the fight against terrorism.” It defines the covered offence as intentionally causing another person’s death with the purpose of harming an Israeli citizen or resident and rejecting the State of Israel’s existence. The prescribed punishments for that offence are death or life imprisonment, and in some cases the statute prescribes death as the sole penalty.
The law creates two enforcement tracks: Israel’s civilian criminal courts and military courts that operate in the occupied West Bank. Under the new provisions, Palestinians convicted of terrorism by military courts in the West Bank face a mandatory death sentence: “his sentence shall be death, and this penalty only.” A court may commute that sentence to life imprisonment only upon a finding of “special reasons,” reversing the earlier de facto practice of commuting death sentences. The legislation also lowers the threshold for judicial agreement — making a simple majority among judges sufficient — and narrows avenues for appeal.
Human rights groups and critics have raised alarms about military court procedures and conviction rates. Israeli group B’Tselem highlights conviction rates approaching 96% in military courts, often based on confessions that rights groups say were extracted under duress or torture. A Knesset legal adviser, Ido Ben‑Itzhak, criticized the bill for lacking a formal pardon mechanism and for conflicting with international treaties.
Implementation details
The law is not retroactive and explicitly does not apply to alleged perpetrators of the October 7 attacks. Separately, lawmakers are considering a proposed Tribunals Law that could establish a special military tribunal empowered to prosecute participants in those attacks and potentially impose capital punishment.
Under the new statute, the Israel Prison Service is required to carry out a death sentence within 90 days of a final ruling. The prime minister may petition the sentencing court for a delay of up to 180 days. Executions are to be by hanging and performed by a corrections officer of the prison service.
Sponsors and political context
The bill was spearheaded by the far-right Jewish Power (Otzma Yehudit) party, and picked up support from factions within Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party and Yisrael Beitenu. Jewish Power leader and national security minister Itamar Ben‑Gvir was a prominent advocate, turning the measure into a populist campaign issue and famously wearing a gold lapel pin shaped like a noose. Critics say the push has electoral motivations and has coincided with reports of increased mistreatment in detention settings during Ben‑Gvir’s tenure. The Israeli NGO HaMoked reported that at least 94 Palestinian detainees and prisoners died in Israeli custody from the start of the war through August 2025.
Parliamentary vote and legal outlook
The final Knesset tally was 62 in favor, 48 opposed, with the rest abstaining or absent. The law can still be amended by the legislature or challenged and potentially struck down by the Israeli Supreme Court.
Opposition and international responses
Opposition came from a broad range of domestic and international actors: Israeli opposition lawmakers and security officials, rabbis and doctors, Israeli and Palestinian human rights organizations, and United Nations and European Union officials. Ramallah-based lawyer Sahar Francis warned the law is “very dangerous,” arguing it would effectively apply only to Palestinians and violate international humanitarian law because Israel cannot impose capital punishment on an occupied population. Israeli opposition lawmaker Gilad Kariv called the measure “miserable, crude, immoral and irrational,” and warned it could have repercussions for Israeli hostages. B’Tselem said the law institutionalizes the dehumanization of Palestinians.
UN Human Rights Council experts urged Israel to withdraw the bill, saying it would breach the right to life and discriminate against people in occupied territory. The European Union expressed deep concern and reiterated its opposition to the death penalty in all circumstances.
Editorial information
Edited by Helen Whittle. This report was originally published on March 30, 2026 and was updated the same evening after the Knesset passed the death penalty law.