Israeli lawmakers were debating Monday a bill that could see the execution of Palestinians convicted on terror charges for deadly attacks, a move sharply criticised as discriminatory by European nations and rights groups.
The bill was spearheaded by far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and his Otzma Yehudit, or Jewish Power, party.
Ben Gvir has in the run-up to the vote worn a lapel pin in the shape of a noose, symbolising his support for the legislation.
The legislation would see the death penalty become the default punishment for Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank found guilty of intentionally carrying out deadly attacks deemed “acts of terrorism” by a military court.
The bill says that the sentence may be reduced to life imprisonment under “special circumstances”.
It states that anyone “who intentionally causes the death of a person with the aim of harming an Israeli citizen or resident out of an intention to put an end to the existence of the State of Israel shall be sentenced to death or life imprisonment”.
It sets the execution method as hanging, adding that it should be carried out within 90 days of the sentencing, with a possible postponement of up to 180 days.
Lawmaker Limor Son Har-Melech from Ben Gvir’s party, who years ago survived an attack by Palestinian militants in which her husband was killed, urged fellow parliamentarians to approve the bill.
“I carry with me the memory of my husband, Shuli … the look in the terrorists’ eyes as they shot at us with chilling composure,” she told parliament.
“For years, we endured a cruel cycle of terror, imprisonment, release in reckless deals, and the return of these human monsters to murder Jews again … And today, my friends, this cycle has come full circle.”
A vote on the bill is expected by Monday night.
In February, Amnesty International urged Israeli lawmakers to reject the legislation, which it said “would allow Israeli courts to expand their use of death sentences with discriminatory application against Palestinians”.
On Sunday, Britain, France, Germany and Italy expressed “deep concern” over the legislation, which they said risked “undermining Israel’s commitments with regards to democratic principles”.
While the death penalty exists for a small number of crimes in Israel, it has become a de facto abolitionist country — the Nazi Holocaust perpetrator Adolf Eichmann was the last person to be executed in 1962.
