Ben-Gvir dishes out sweets as Israel advances death penalty for Palestinian prisoners

A bill proposing the death penalty for Palestinian prisoners, who Israel labels as "terrorists," passed a first reading in Israel's Knesset on Monday.

The amendment to the penal code, demanded by extremist far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and approved by the National Security Committee, was approved by 39 votes to 16. It must pass a second and third reading before becoming law.

After the bill passed the first reading, the far-right minister was seen distributing sweets to members of the Knesset.

The vote went ahead amid a series of regional tensions, which includes Israel's deadly war in the Gaza Strip and in Lebanon, which are now observing ceasefires - despite daily Israeli violations. 

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.

Ben-Gvir had threatened to withdraw his Jewish Power (Otzma Yehudit) party from the governing coalition if the law were not put to a vote. The extremist minister, an advocate for the war in Gaza, got into a heated confrontation with left-wing Arab MP Ayman Odeh, which nearly ended in a physical altercation. 

According to the draft text, the death penalty would apply to individuals who kill Israelis out of "racist" motives and "with the aim of harming the State of Israel and the revival of the Jewish people in its land", The Times of Israel said.

A statement from the security committee that includes the bill's explanatory note said: "Its purpose is to cut off terrorism at its root and create a heavy deterrent."

Following the vote in his favor, Ben-Gvir wrote in a post on his X platform account: "Otzma Yehudit is on its way to making history. We promised and we delivered. The death penalty law for terrorists was passed in its first reading."

Ben-Gvir has a track record of incitement against Palestinians, as well as making racist and xenophobic remarks.

A staunch supporter of the war in Gaza, the minister has long-called for the killing of the enclave's Palestinians, has repeatedly voiced opposition on the ceasefire and temporarily quit Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet over the matter.

The bill has raised alarm among Palestinian activists, as Palestinians are already imprisoned and killed at high rates in Israeli jails. There is an estimate of 9,500 Palestinian detainees in Israel, as of November 2025.

Hamas said the proposed law "embodies the ugly fascist face of the rogue Zionist occupation and represents a blatant violation of international law".

The Ramallah-based Palestinian foreign ministry called it a "new form of escalating Israeli extremism and criminality against the Palestinian people".