Israeli Knesset debates implementing death penalty on Palestinians 'within 90 days, and no plea'

The Israeli Knesset’s National Security Committee held a hearing on Wednesday on a death penalty bill targeting Palestinian prisoners accused of killing Israelis.

In the lead-up to the hearing, Committee Chair Tzvika Foghel made a set of draconian amendments pertaining to the bill on Tuesday, Israeli media reported.

The adjustments suggest that an execution would be carried out within 90 days of a death sentence being passed, and those facing the death penalty will not be allowed to appeal the ruling or be eligible for a pardon.

Foghel, a member of the extreme-right Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party, said the death penalty will be imposed on "anyone who kills Jews only because they are Jews," as well as those who "carry out and plan attacks".

He added that the execution would be carried out through lethal injection by the Israel Prison Service within a 90-day period, to "avoid any possibility of avoiding carrying out the sentence".

Details of the amendments were obtained by Israel’s Channel 12 after they were shared in a WhatsApp group which included the Security Committee members.

During the discussion on Wednesday, far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who leads Otzma Yehudit, said he will not allow government legal counsel to "torpedo the bill," Haaretz reported.

He lashed out at Aida Touma-Sliman, a member of the left-wing party Hadash, which has Jewish and Arab members, telling her to "go support her terrorist friends" and branded her a "terror supporter," after she voiced opposition to the bill.

Several other opposition lawmakers also objected to the bill.

The death penalty bill is sponsored by Limor Son Har-Melech, also a member of the Otzma Yehudit party who lives in the illegal settlement of Shavei Shomron, located west of Nablus.

The bill has been pushed by Ben-Gvir, who has a track record of incitement against Palestinians, making inflammatory and racist remarks about them, for which he has been previously arrested.

Throughout the war in Gaza, the extremist minister called for the shooting of Palestinians in Gaza and pushed for the war to continue, vehemently opposing any ceasefire.

Last week, Ben-Gvir celebrated the Knesset’s passing of the bill's first reading by distributing sweets in parliament. Two more readings are required to pass the bill.

Human rights organisations have strongly condemned the bill, stressing that it’s being designed to specifically target Palestinians, noting that Israelis guilty of killing Palestinians will be not subjected to the death penalty.

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel called it "another step toward the establishment of a racist legal system designed to advance selective, oppressive and biased enforcement against this group, through violent and undemocratic means."

The organisation added that the bill "inherently contradicts the most basic values of the sanctity of life and human dignity".

"Life is a supreme value, and no interest outweighs it or justifies taking a life - not even punitive or deterrent aims."

While capital punishment is legal within Israeli law, only one person - Holocaust perpetrator Adolf Eichmann - has been executed in the country, in 1962. The last death sentence to be handed down was to Nazi camp guard John Demjanjuk in 1988, but this was overturned in 1993 following an appeal.

The death penalty bill was initially passed in the Knesset in March 2023, following a 55-9 preliminary vote.