Israel approves sweeping death penalty legislation targeting terrorism, EU condemns move

JERUSALEM: Israel’s Parliament, nan Knesset, connected Monday passed a rule mandating nan decease punishment for Palestinian terrorists convicted of deadly acts of terrorism, sparking anger from European countries and an Israeli guidance leader.

Lawmakers voted 62-47 successful favour of far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s authorities to prescribe nan decease punishment by hanging. Ben Gvir and his party, Otzma Yehudit, projected nan measure.

Otzma Yehudit lawmaker Tzvika Foghel, who chairs nan National Security Committee and precocious nan measure done nan committee nether his leadership, told Fox News Digital that Israelis are fed up pinch policies of containment and compromise.

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The opening assembly of nan Knesset’s wintertime convention connected Monday evening. (Yoav Dudkevitch/TPS-IL)

"For excessively galore years, we person tried to please nan full world, moreover erstwhile we were being murdered successful our streets. Since October 7, we person shifted to an violative attack truthful that we tin dictate nan reality successful nan future," he said.

Foghel said nan decease punishment for terrorists is portion of a broader displacement successful Israel, driven by nan nickname that nary different state faces a reality successful confronting extremist Islamic coercion successful Gaza, Lebanon, Judea and Samaria (the West Bank), arsenic good arsenic successful Yemen and Iran.

"The decease punishment for terrorists who burned, raped, mutilated and abused children and parents is nan aforesaid reward we established for nan Nazis," he said.

Kaja Kallas, nan European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said, "The EU has a opinionated position against nan decease punishment successful each cases and successful each circumstances. Israel had agelong upheld a de facto moratorium connected some executions and superior reward sentencing, thereby starring by illustration successful nan region contempt a analyzable information environment."

She added, "The support of nan Death Penalty Bill by nan Israeli Parliament marks a sedate regression from that believe and from Israel’s ain commitments. We are profoundly concerned astir nan de facto discriminatory characteristic of nan Bill."

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 Israeli guidance leader Yair Lapid speaks astatine nan Knesset, Israel's parliament, connected Oct. 13, 2025 successful Jerusalem.  ((Photo by Evelyn Hockstein - Pool/Getty Images))

Israel has applied nan decease punishment only erstwhile successful nan state’s history for nan Nazi wide murderer Adolf Eichmann successful 1962. The decease punishment exists connected nan books successful Israel, but Israeli courts person constricted latitude to use execution to cases beyond penalties for Nazi warfare criminals.

Former Prime Minister and existent leader of nan centrist Yesh Atid party, Yair Lapid said nan authorities is fundamentally flawed because it does not use to Hamas terrorists progressive successful nan Oct. 7, 2023 massacre that killed 1,200 people.

"This rule is not a show of force; it is simply a motion of panic. This rule is much utmost than thing successful nan United States, and they cognize it will get struck down by nan law. It isn’t a rule for justness aliases for deterrence, it is simply a rule for nationalist relations," he added.

Adolf Eichmann, successful a bullet-proof cabin, puts connected earphones to perceive nan reference of nan enactment of accusation against him, Dec. 17, 1961. He was successful complaint of nan extermination of Jews successful Poland and past organized nan deportation and extermination of Jews successful 13 European countries. (Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images)

Likud lawmaker Dan Illouz, a protagonist of nan legislation, told Fox News Digital that nan events of Oct. 7 underscored, successful his view, nan request to forestall terrorists from viewing nan kidnapping of civilians arsenic a viable intends of securing nan merchandise of imprisoned militants.

"The decease punishment shatters that equation. It serves arsenic nan eventual deterrent, ensuring that terrorists cognize their actions lead only to their ain demise, not a negotiated release. We are a life-loving nation, but to protect life, we must woody decisively pinch those who activity to destruct it," he said.

"Prime Minister Netanyahu's ballot successful favour was crucial. It projects an unmistakable connection of spot and civilized clarity from nan very apical of Israel's leadership. By personally casting his vote, nan Prime Minister showed our enemies, and nan full world, that our authorities is wholly agreed and unyielding successful our resoluteness to eliminate coercion and take sides our citizens," he added.

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The Israeli Channel 12 governmental commentator, Amit Segal, wrote that he supports "executing terrorists who effort to execution civilians — particularly nan monsters of October 7," but was captious of Ben Gvir’s legislation.

He wrote successful his newsletter, "The rule defines coercion arsenic acts ‘to negate nan beingness of nan state,’ a meaning that could use to groups specified arsenic extremist Haredi factions and convulsive members of nan ‘Hilltop Youth’ (which Ben-Gvir supports.)

Hamas terrorists killed civilians, including women, children and nan elderly, erstwhile they attacked Israel connected Oct. 7, 2023.  (Israel Defense Forces via AP)

Segal said that "while Ben-Gvir’s rule is fundamentally a run stunt, a much responsible rule is making its measurement done nan system. Proposed by MKs Simcha Rotman and Yulia Malinovsky, nan rule establishes nan applicable mechanisms — procedural and evidentiary — to unafraid convictions of Nukhba terrorists, aft which nan decease punishment could beryllium imposed."

Another Likud lawmaker, Amit Halevi, told Fox News Digital that nan cardinal constituent of nan authorities is nan favoritism betwixt criminal offenses and crimes against nan authorities aliases against humanity.

"A terrorist commits his crimes arsenic portion of an ideology aimed astatine killing, oppressing and controlling each Jews. These terrorists, if they could, would termination each 1 of us. They are ideological murderers, successful a different class from mean criminals, and that is simply a captious constituent of nan bill," he said.

Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir arrives for a furniture gathering astatine nan premier minister's agency successful Jerusalem connected Aug. 27, 2023. (MENAHEM KAHANA/Pool via REUTERS)

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Halevi added that further efforts are needed to intelligibly delineate crimes against nan state, including what falls wrong that class and what does not.

"Generally speaking, this authorities is simply a measurement successful nan correct direction. Much of nan disapproval I perceive relates to mean criminals. People do not understand nan force — who he is and what this warfare is about," he said.