Israel’s parliament approves a first reading of a bill allowing mandatory death sentences for terrorists convicted of murder in nationalist-motivated attacks.
JERUSALEM: A bill proposing mandatory death sentences for terrorists passed its first reading in Israel’s parliament on Monday.
The amendment to the penal code was approved by 39 votes to 16 after being demanded by far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.
The legislation would apply to Palestinians convicted of deadly attacks against Israelis motivated by racism or hatred.
Ben Gvir had threatened to withdraw his Jewish Power party from the governing coalition if the law wasn’t put to a vote.
A statement from the National Security Committee said the bill’s purpose is “to cut off terrorism at its root and create a heavy deterrent.”
“It is proposed that a terrorist convicted of murder motivated by racism or hatred towards the public, and under circumstances where the act was committed with the intent to harm the State of Israel… will be sentenced to the death penalty — mandatory,” the statement said.
The vote occurred amid a tense truce with Hamas in the Gaza war that began after the October 7, 2023 attacks.
While Israel retains the death penalty for limited crimes, it has become a de facto abolitionist country.
Adolf Eichmann was the last person executed in Israel in 1962 for his role in the Nazi Holocaust.
Hamas condemned the proposed law as “embodies the ugly fascist face of the rogue Zionist occupation and represents a blatant violation of international law.”
The Palestinian foreign ministry based in Ramallah called it a “new form of escalating Israeli extremism and criminality against the Palestinian people.”
The government continues discussions with the United States and others about extending the Gaza truce that began last month.
The bill must pass second and third readings before becoming law. – AFP
