The bill’s sponsor, Limor Son Har-Milish, from the far-right Jewish Power party, described advancing the bill as a “moral and necessary step.”
“The law sends a clear and unambiguous message: Those who choose to kill Jews because they are Jews lose their right to life,” Harmelek added.
The bill was approved on its first reading in the full Knesset last November, sparking widespread condemnation of its provisions that include mandatory death sentences without judicial discretion or the possibility of clemency, which will be implemented within 90 days.
Since then, amendments have been proposed to avoid accusations of discrimination amid the introduction of about 2,000 proposed amendments by opposition lawmakers. Language under which Israeli Jews who kill Palestinians are not subject to legislation has been watered down; However, critics assert that in practice, the bill would apply mostly to Palestinian perpetrators.
The bill also maintains what critics say is a discriminatory two-track legal system; One is for military courts that have jurisdiction over Palestinians — but not Israeli settlers — in the illegally occupied West Bank, and the other is for civil courts inside Israel and East Jerusalem, which, like the wider West Bank, has been illegally occupied by Israel for nearly 59 years.
The Israeli Prime Minister was Benjamin Netanyahu It is said that I paid The changes, which also include allowing judicial discretion in sentencing and removing the requirement for trials to be conducted in military courts. Netanyahu – wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity and war crimes in Gaza – is said to be concerned about further global backlash against a country already facing a genocide case at the International Court of Justice.
Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir commander Last week, he removed a video promoting the bill, in which he stands next to a gallows at a memorial to Jews executed in the 1930s and 1940s for resisting British occupation — calling Tuesday’s vote a “historic moment of justice for the State of Israel.”
“No more revolving doors of attacks, imprisonment and release,” he added. “This law restores deterrence, restores justice, and sends a clear and unambiguous message to our enemies: Jewish blood is not cheap. We will continue to lead an uncompromising policy against terrorism until victory.”
Studies in the United States – the only Western democracy that effectively executes people – have been repeated repeatedly It is shown The death penalty does not deter crime.
MKs who oppose the legislation — who are believed to be outnumbered more than 2 to 1 — condemned Tuesday’s vote.
Rabbi Gilad Kariv, representative of the Left Democrats Party, criticize What he called “an extremist bill that does not exist in any democratic country, with serious moral flaws and profound security negligence.”
Har-Malek, Ben Gvir, and other supporters of the bill have repeatedly worn noose-shaped boxes to show their support for the legislation. Ben Gvir Sweets delivered To his colleagues in the Knesset after the draft law was approved on the first reading. Har-Malak recently He wears an executioner’s uniform Replete with a noose and a Purim syringe, while her husband wore a costume representing what he called the themes of “occupation, expulsion and settlement” — or the invasion, ethnic cleansing and settler colonialism of Palestine.
“With God’s help, next Purim we will need more than just one breath to read the names of all the terrorists who were hanged,” Harmelek said in a video message on the occasion of the festive holiday. “And the Jews had light and joy and gladness.”
Palestinians and their advocates warn that the draft law, if passed, could open the door to mass executions.
Hamas, which still rules Gaza despite nearly 29 months of war and an Israeli blockade, Named The draft law is “a dangerous terrorist step that paves the way for the implementation of murders and liquidations against our prisoners.”
The Media Office for Palestinian Prisoners said, on Wednesday, in A statement“This dangerous development constitutes an unprecedented escalation in the enemy’s policies towards our prisoners, represents a blatant violation of all international laws and conventions, and reveals premeditated intentions to commit an organized crime against the captive movement.”
The bill sparked widespread condemnation around the world. United Nations experts appealed Israel demanded the withdrawal of the draft law, arguing that it “violates the right to life and discriminates against Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territories.”
Diplomatic Service of the European Union He said Tuesday that the European Union “opposes the death penalty in all cases and under all circumstances.”
The agency added: “Israel has long supported a de facto moratorium on executions and death penalties, thus setting an example in the region despite the complex security environment.” He added, “Approval of this draft law would represent a dangerous step backwards from this important practice and from the positions that Israel itself expressed in the past.”
Israel abolished the death penalty for murder in 1954; Currently, the only crimes punishable by death are crimes against humanity and treason. The only execution in Israel’s history occurred in 1962 when Holocaust architect Adolf Eichmann was executed on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity.
A senior Amnesty International official Named The bill is “another tool within Israel’s institutional apartheid system against all Palestinians whose rights it controls.”
Some critics have pointed out that there are about 100 Palestinian prisoners He died Detainees in Israeli custody since the Hamas-led attack in October 2023, including some who were allegedly To torture Or raped to death.
“Israel already kills Palestinians on a regular basis – in detention facilities, and in the field, where lethal force is widely used by Israeli settlers and the military with almost zero accountability,” said Yuli Novak, executive director of the Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem. He said “This law is another tool in that toolkit,” The Guardian added on Wednesday.
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