Lawmakers on Monday evening, November 10, voted 39-16 in favor of the first reading of a fascist government-backed bill sponsored by Otzma Yehudit MK Limor Son Har-Melech to impose the death penalty on Palestinian prisoners who have killed Jews in Israel. The bill states that it applies to those who kill Jews due to the aim “of harming the State of Israel and the revival of the Jewish people in its land,” leading to criticism that it would apply only to Arabs who kill Jews and not to Jewish terrorists.
Palestinian Bar Association protest in Ramallah against the proposed law to execute Palestinian prisoners, Sunday, November 9, 2025 (Photo: Mustafa Abu Diya/WAFA)
The bill will now return to the Knesset’s committees for further discussion and will still need to pass a second and third reading in the plenum to become a law. The bill also proposes that in military courts in the occupied West Bank, the death sentence may be imposed by most of the judges, and the punishment may not be commuted once imposed.
Racist Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called the bill “the most important law in the history of the State of Israel,” and slammed MKs Ahmad Tibi (Hadash-Ta’al), and Ayman Odeh (Hadash-Ta’al) “they will, of course, squawk about how the law will lead to the execution of the monsters they are fighting for in the Knesset. Let them keep squawking.”
During the debate at the plenum Hadash-Ta’al chairman MK Odeh — who screamed that “the occupation will end, and a Palestinian state will be established” — was then removed following a confrontation with Ben Gvir. The two traded insults, with Odeh calling Ben Gvir a terrorist. Ben Gvir then got up and approached Odeh, who was hustled away by security. “You wanted to carry out a transfer – and you failed. That’s why you’re in an ideological crisis and going crazy like you are now. You are the bunch of weaklings. You will be thrown out, and the Palestinian people will remain,” Odeh said. During a subsequent heated confrontation between Hadash-Ta’al and far-right lawmakers, lawmaker Ahmad Tibi was also kicked out of the plenum by Son Har-Melech, who was chairing the debate.
Israeli human rights groups have long condemned Ben-Gvir’s push for the law, warning that it targets Palestinians specifically and deepens systemic discrimination. The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) categorically opposes the death penalty, “He contradicts the foundation of human rights: the sanctity of life and human dignity. It stands in complete opposition to the values of the State of Israel and fundamental democratic principles and undermines the moral foundations of human society. The death penalty turns the law into a tool of violence in the hands of the authorities. It also serves corrupt society and normalizes violence, extremism, and indifference to the value of life. Legally, it contradicts Israel’s Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty, as it nullifies the constitutional human right to dignity and life. It also goes against international law and Israel’s obligations, as the occupying power, toward Palestinians residing in the occupied territories.”
According to ACRI, “The bill’s drafters argue that the death penalty will act as a means of deterrence. But the use of killing as a means of deterrence cheapens the sanctity of human life; the State is not permitted to cheapen the lives of those convicted—even if they have committed terrible crimes—by using them to send a threatening message to others. Moreover, studies conducted worldwide have found no evidence that the death penalty is an effective means of deterrence, particularly when it comes to acts of terrorism carried out on ideological grounds. Accordingly, the global trend is toward abolishing the death penalty.”
“This bill cannot be viewed in isolation from the general conduct and policies towards Palestinian prisoners and detainees since the outbreak of the war: abuse; violence; starvation; prolonged time in handcuffs; unsanitary living conditions; and the denial of medical treatment, meetings with lawyers, and access to Red Cross representatives. Dozens of prisoners and detainees have died under these conditions. This bill is another manifestation of a larger policy of vengeance and cruelty and is not intended to serve any purpose other than to provide a legal pretext for executing them”, ACRI emphasized.
Related: https://maki.org.il/en/?p=16801
