MEPs calls for EU sanctions over Israel's death penalty bill

The European Parliament held a conference on Thursday to highlight Israel's proposed death penalty bill and press for a stronger European response, including possible sanctions over grave human rights violations incompatible with EU values.

The event was led by Lynn Boylan, Sinn Féin MEP for Dublin and Chair of the EU Delegation for Relations with Palestine, who described the Knesset's push for capital punishment against Palestinian detainees as "racialised capital punishment" that applies exclusively to them.

Israel's radical National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and members of his right-wing coalition have recently advanced legislation to expand capital punishment for Palestinians convicted of terrorism, after it passed an initial reading in the Knesset in January.

The bill would formalise executions under a legal framework applicable only to Palestinians convicted of murder, without applying to Jewish Israelis accused of similar crimes.

Representatives from Al‑Haq and B'Tselem presented findings on Israel’s detention and torture practices before MEPs delivered political statements.

Speaking for Al-Haq, international lawyer Ahmed Abofoul said torture and the death penalty "go hand in hand" in Israel's treatment of Palestinians, describing both as part of a broader system of impunity.

He argued that "torture is merely a tool" within Israel's settler-colonial framework, designed to "break the will of the Palestinian people".

Abofoul urged European governments to demand the release of Palestinians held without charge and to investigate deaths in custody rather than treating them as isolated incidents.

Dr Yoav Shemer-Kunz, B'Tselem's EU advocacy officer, said Israel's deliberation of the death penalty represented "an additional tool for Israel to kill Palestinians", reflecting what he described as the "dehumanisation of Palestinian society".

He said a de facto death penalty already exists in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, as soldiers and settlers act with “full immunity” when killing Palestinians.

Since October 2023, he said, at least 84 Palestinians have died in Israeli detention, with more than 9,200 currently held in "torture camps", including around 4,600 without charge. He added that detainees are denied visits, and many have reported sexual violence and abuse.

Chairing the discussion, MEP Lynn Boylan warned that the proposed death penalty would further entrench Israel's occupation and violations of international law.

Fellow MEP Cecilia Strada argued that "the EU has turned a blind eye to Israel’s inhumane atrocities for too long", describing the bill as part of a "broad genocidal supremacist campaign".

Green Party MEP Mounir Satouri said the move could amount to a war crime, adding that "we were incapable of stopping the genocide in Gaza, incapable of bringing in aid to those starving — and now I fear we are incapable of stopping this law, a violation of the right to life".

EU complicity in Israel's war crimes

"The credibility of the EU is at stake due to its lack of action", said Lynn Boylan, responding to a question from The New Arab.

Her warning echoed throughout the conference, as speakers accused Brussels of turning a blind eye to Israel’s escalating rights abuses while maintaining deep political and economic ties.

The EU remains Israel’s largest trading partner, accounting for approximately 32 percent of its total trade in goods in 2024, valued at €42.6 billion.

Rights advocates argue this represents a level of interdependence that gives Brussels significant leverage it has yet to use.

Al‑Haq’s Abofoul stressed that "apartheid is a crime", adding that "tolerating this would be complicity".

B’Tselem’s Yoav Shemer‑Kunz said the EU has "a legal obligation to uphold international law and protect human rights", urging European institutions to use their influence to hold Israel accountable.

Green MEP Mounir Satouri added that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who has repeatedly expressed strong solidarity with Israel while neglecting the Palestinian question, "should have been here" to hear those concerns herself.

MEP Cecilia Strada cautioned that indifference from Brussels "will have severe consequences in Europe too", arguing that staying silent while an associated country expands use of the death penalty "with a supremacist and racist purpose" effectively erodes the EU's human‑rights foundation.

By not acting to counter Israel's pushing of capital punishment, "We implicitly recognise that the death penalty is no longer incompatible with the EU’s human rights values", she said, "undermining our moral authority globally".

Calls for EU sanctions against Israel

Speakers closed the conference with a unified call for sanctions against Israel, urging the European Union to suspend its Association Agreement with Tel Aviv until it complies with international law.

MEP Lynn Boylan stressed that, as Israel’s largest trading partner, the EU has both moral and legal responsibility to act.

The bloc’s founding principles — the abolition of the death penalty, the prohibition of racial discrimination, and the defence of human dignity — were being "fundamentally violated", she said, calling for greater transparency on EU–Israel trade and a two‑way arms embargo.

"The only thing politicians will react to, unfortunately, is public pressure", Boylan responded to The New Arab. "We know that pressure must continue if they are to do their jobs and apply international and European law".

She said there was growing political will within the European Parliament to support Palestine, but that decisive action must come from the Council of the EU and, above all, the European Commission, which is tasked with upholding the treaty. "They need to show leadership if they want to be considered credible actors", she said.

Invoking Article 2 of the EU‑Israel Association Agreement, Boylan reminded attendees that the pact is explicitly conditional on respect for human rights and democratic principles, what she calls “an essential element of the agreement”.

Green MEP Mounir Satouri echoed her call, arguing that suspending the treaty “is not a sanction but a normal reaction toward a state that is no longer meeting its contract”.

The press conference ended with a reminder that the next European Parliament plenary session, scheduled in a week and a half, will offer what MEP Strada called "another opportunity to raise our voices - or to stay silent".