Israel's parliament has approved legislation authorizing the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of murdering Israeli citizens, a move that international law experts describe as discriminatory and potentially in violation of international human rights law.
The Knesset passed the measure in a late-night session Sunday, with 55 members voting in favor and 9 against, according to the Associated Press. The legislation was championed by far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has long advocated for capital punishment in cases involving attacks on Israelis.
The law explicitly applies only to Palestinians, not to Israeli citizens convicted of similar crimes, creating a two-tier justice system based on ethnicity and nationality.
Under Israel's previous legal framework, the death penalty existed only in theory and had been applied just once in the country's history, to Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann in 1962. Military courts retained the theoretical power to impose capital punishment, but no executions had been carried out in over six decades.
The new legislation lowers the threshold for death sentences in cases where Palestinians are convicted of murdering Israeli citizens, requiring only a majority of judges rather than unanimity, and expands the crimes eligible for capital punishment.
International human rights organizations immediately condemned the measure. Human Rights Watch issued a statement calling the law "discriminatory on its face" and warning that it violates the principle of equality before the law enshrined in international human rights conventions.
"A law that applies the death penalty based on the perpetrator's nationality or ethnicity is inherently discriminatory," said Omar Shakir, Israel and director at .
