October 2, 2026
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s parliament on Monday passed a law approving the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of murdering Israelis.
The passage of the bill marked the culmination of a yearslong drive to escalate punishment for Palestinians convicted of nationalistic offenses against Israelis. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came to the Knesset to vote for the bill in person.
The law makes the death penalty — by hanging — the default punishment for West Bank Palestinians convicted of nationalistic killings. It also gives Israeli courts the option of imposing the death penalty on Israeli citizens convicted on similar charges.
It will not apply retroactively to any prisoners Israel currently holds, including the Hamas-led terrorists who attacked the country on Oct. 7, 2023, triggering the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.
After the final 62-48 vote in favor, lawmakers erupted into cheers and stood up in jubilation. Netanyahu, who remained in his seat, did not immediately react or speak.
The legislation, which says it will take effect in 30 days, is certain to face legal challenges that may stall its implementation.
Minutes after the bill passed, the Association of Civil Rights in Israel said it had already petitioned Israel’s highest court to challenge the law.
The vote capped a daylong debate in the parliament. During earlier deliberations, lawmakers raised other concerns, including how the bill does not allow clemency. Opposition lawmakers at times appeared to plead with their colleagues to vote against the bill.
Before the vote, Ben Gvir described the law as long overdue and a sign of strength and national pride.
“From today, every terrorist will know, and the whole world will know, that whoever takes a life, the State of Israel will take their life,” he told lawmakers. On his lapel, he wore a signature pin — a small metal noose.
The bill makes the death penalty a default punishment for nationalistic killings in military courts, which try only West Bank Palestinians and not Israeli citizens. It says that only in special circumstances can military judges change the sentence to life imprisonment.
It gives Israeli civilian courts a greater degree of leniency in sentencing, with judges having the option to choose between the death penalty and life imprisonment.
The bill defines the offense punishable by death as killing that rejects the existence of the state of Israel.
Though Israel technically has the death penalty on the books as a possible punishment for acts of genocide, espionage during wartime, and certain terror offenses, the country hasn’t put anyone to death since Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann in 1962.
There is a separate bill under consideration dealing with punishment for the Oct. 7, 2023, attackers in Israel's custody.
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