PM said pushing to soften wording of bill mandating death penalty for terrorists

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asked National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir to soften the wording of the controversial bill to legislate the death penalty for terror convicts, according to a Saturday report, due to fears of international legal repercussions and domestic legal challenges.

Citing sources familiar with the discussions, the Ynet news site reported that Netanyahu’s aides approached Ben Gvir in recent days to urge revisions to the proposal, which is currently being advanced in the Knesset.

Officials in the Prime Minister’s Office argued that the draft in its present form is more severe than capital punishment standards in the United States, which could expose Israel to diplomatic pressure and legal scrutiny abroad, the report said.

Ben Gvir has reportedly resisted the requested changes. However, coalition sources told Ynet that the prime minister will not allow the bill to pass in its current wording.

In an unusual step, Netanyahu’s office contacted a Likud lawmaker, who then asked MK Eli Dallal to submit a formal reservation challenging the draft language being promoted in committee by MK Limor Son Har-Melech, a member of Ben Gvir’s far-right Otzma Yehudit party. Nearly 1,000 reservations have already been filed against the legislation, mostly by opposition lawmakers.

According to the report, the National Security Council, Shin Bet security agency and the Foreign Ministry are all in favor of Netanyahu’s demand to amend the bill, and during committee deliberations, the legal advisors warned of potential constitutional barriers due to legal concerns in the bill’s language.

Among the proposed changes is the removal of a clause mandating the death penalty for certain terrorism offenses without judicial discretion, the report said. Netanyahu is pushing to allow judges to choose between capital punishment and life imprisonment, and also seeks to introduce a right of appeal on sentencing, aligning the law with Israel’s international legal commitments.

According to a notice sent by the committee’s legal advisors, other issues with the bill include its application to Palestinians under Israeli military rule in the West Bank and conflict with international treaties to which Israel is signatory.

Another disputed provision would apply the death penalty differently depending on the victims’ citizenship status. Netanyahu has pushed to delete the clause to avoid accusations of discrimination, particularly in cases of Jewish terrorism against Palestinians.

In the original text of the bill, for the death penalty to be applied, the victim must be an “Israeli citizen,” meaning that the death penalty will not apply in cases where victims of terrorism are permanent residents or foreigners residing in the country.

The committee’s legal team also said that the offense detailed in the bill is far too vague, which could make it hard to interpret while in use.

The cabinet has held discussions on the matter, the report added.

Sources close to Netanyahu confirmed the details to Ynet. Ben Gvir’s office declined to comment.

Although the death penalty formally exists in Israeli law, it has only ever been used once, in 1962 — in the case of Nazi officer Adolf Eichmann, one of the architects of the Holocaust.

It is technically allowed in cases of high treason, as well as in certain circumstances under martial law that applies within the IDF and in the West Bank, but currently requires a unanimous decision from a panel of three judges, and has never been implemented.