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Monday, March 30, 2026
Knesset passes law mandating death penalty for West Bank Palestinians convicted of terrorism
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleAriela Karmel is a political correspondent at The Times of Israel. She previously reported for Calcalist and Haaretz. She holds an MA in Middle Eastern and African History from Tel Aviv University and a BA in Political Science from the University of British Columbia.
The Knesset votes 62-48 to pass a controversial law mandating the death penalty for West Bank Palestinians convicted of carrying out deadly terror attacks.
The vote is a major victory for far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit party, which has long lobbied for the measure. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu voted for the bill.
“This is a day of justice for the victims and a day of deterrence for our enemies. No more revolving door for terrorists, but a clear decision. Whoever chooses terrorism chooses death,” says Ben Gvir in a statement.
The law, approved after nearly 12 hours of debate, mandates death by hanging as the default punishment for West Bank residents convicted of deadly terrorist acts by military courts. While judges can opt for life imprisonment under vaguely defined “special circumstances,” the death penalty would otherwise be mandatory.
The sentence would require a simple majority of judges rather than a unanimous decision, while eliminating any right of appeal.
The law will not apply retroactively, including to the perpetrators of the October 7 attacks, for which a separate bill is being advanced.
The law effectively enshrines capital punishment for Palestinians alone, as it explicitly excludes Israeli citizens or residents, and Palestinians alone are tried in military courts. Israelis are tried in civilian courts.
Though a separate provision allows courts to impose the death penalty on anyone, including Israeli citizens, it applies only to those who “intentionally cause the death of a person with the aim of denying the existence of the State of Israel” — a definition that in practice excludes Jewish terrorists.
Right-wing opposition party Yisrael Beytenu votes in favor of the law. Party chair Avigdor Liberman had said that his faction would only support the measure if Netanyahu and Shas leader Aryeh Deri showed up in person to vote in favor, which they did in the final moments of the debate.
The ultra-Orthodox Shas and United Torah Judaism’s Degel HaTorah faction also vote in favor, despite reports that Degel HaTorah was going to oppose it, after its spiritual leader Rabbi Dov Lando expressed concern that the legislation could endanger Diaspora Jewry. UTJ’s Agudat Yisrael faction opposes the measure.
The Times of Israel Community.