Israel makes death penalty mandatory in military courts for West Bank Palestinians

Darwin, 18 May : Israel has enforced a new law imposing the death penalty on West Bank Palestinians convicted of deadly acts of terrorism through the signing of a military order. According to a report by The Times of Israel, the order was signed Sunday night by Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth, head of the Central Command of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

Under the order, military courts handling terrorism cases in which an attack resulted in a death will be required to impose the death penalty as the sole punishment, unless judges find special circumstances warranting life imprisonment instead.

After the legislation was passed at the end of March, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz requested that Bluth approve the military order.

The law has been widely condemned, both within Israel and internationally, including in Europe, as discriminatory. It explicitly states that it does not apply to Israeli citizens or residents of Israel. It also applies only to terrorism trials in military courts, where Palestinians are typically prosecuted, while Israelis are tried in the country’s civilian courts.

Another controversial aspect of the law is that one of the three conditions for imposing the death penalty is that the attacker acted with the intention of “negating the existence of the State of Israel or the authority of the military commander in the area” — a criterion likely to apply mainly to Palestinian attackers.

Several organizations and politicians have petitioned Israel’s High Court of Justice against the law, and the court has ordered the state to respond by May 24.

In a joint statement, Katz and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said:
“This is a clear and sharp change of policy after the October 7, 2023 massacre. Terrorists who murder Jews can no longer rely on prisoner exchange deals, good prison conditions, or the hope of future release.”

They added, “Anyone who chooses murderous terrorism against Jews must know that the State of Israel will pursue justice to the fullest extent.”

Katz also said, “Terrorists who murder Jews will no longer sit in comfortable prisons, wait for prisoner exchange deals, or dream of release — they will pay the highest price.”

Ben Gvir described the signing of the military order as the fulfillment of an election promise by his far-right party, Otzma Yehudit, saying: “We promised, and we delivered.”

He further stated, “We do not surrender to or tolerate murderous terrorism — we defeat it.”

Although the law has been heavily criticized for specifically targeting Palestinian terrorists while excluding Israelis, it remains unclear whether it will automatically lead to death sentences in all such cases.

This is because proving that an attacker intended to “negate the existence of the State of Israel or the authority of the military commander in the area” may be difficult in many cases, potentially leaving judges room to impose prison sentences instead.