Most Israelis back death penalty law, call for it to be expanded

Israel's passing of a new law enabling the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of killing Israelis has sparked a wave of online backlash - but not on human rights grounds.

Analysis of around 18,000 social media posts and 600,000 interactions by Israeli monitoring firm Scooper, cited by Maariv newspaper, found that the criticism by Israeli social media users was related to the law being "politically driven" for electoral gain, with many calling for even harsher measures against Palestinians.

The Knesset on Monday passed the controversial legislation enabling the use of the death penalty exclusively for Palestinians detainees from the occupied West Bank in a move widely condemned around the world.

The largest share of online discourse on the move, around 30 percent, focused on the scope of the law, with users pointing out that it does not apply to Palestinians in Gaza and those involved in the October 2023 attacks.

Even among those who support the death penalty in principle, many described the measure as a "public relations exercise" or "political spin" ahead of elections.

Around a quarter of posts reviewed by Scooper had also focused on images of far-right politicians celebrating the law's passage with champagne in the Knesset, which were deemed "insensitive" as Israeli soldiers were being killed in clashes with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

Support for the law made up roughly 15 percent of the discourse, coming mainly from families of those affected by attacks and right-wing voters, who argued the law would prevent detainees from being used in future exchanges and impose harsher penalties.

A significant number of people expressed concern over the international outrage over the move, including potential sanctions by the European Union.

The UN human rights chief, Volker Türk, said the bill was "deeply discriminatory" and called for its immediate repeal.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro ⁠Sanchez denounced it as "another step towards apartheid".

The EU expressed "deep concern" following the passage of the bill, which it described as a "grave regression".

The bloc came close last year to imposing trade sanctions in response to Israel's assault on Gaza but later dropped the threat after it signed a ceasefire agreement with Hamas. This came after the EU concluded that Israel likely breached its human rights obligations in Gaza.