The Knesset has passed a death penalty bill: Penal Code (Amendment—Death Penalty for Terrorists). Below is information about the law, which ACRI unequivocally opposes. 

 

 

What does the law say? 

The proposal addresses the application of the death penalty in military courts in the territories and in civilian courts in Israel, separately, since these operate within two separate and distinct legal systems. The bill passed and became law on March 30, 2026, after which ACRI immediately petitioned the Supreme Court to repeal the law. The wording of the law has undergone a number of changes, and may continue to be changed. As of March 30, 2026, these are the main points:  

• Palestinians convicted of terror-related murder in military courts in the territories would face a mandatory death sentence, unless the court determines that there are special circumstances that should commute the sentence to life in prison. The defendant would have the right to appeal the death sentence.  

• The threshold for imposing the death penalty would be lowered. Rather than a unanimous decision by the judges, only a simple majority would be required. The judges would not have to be of the rank of lieutenant colonel or higher. 

• The Military Commander would not have the authority to exercise discretion and offer pardons or commute sentences. 

• In Israeli courts, a person convicted of terror-related murder committed with the intent to eradicate the State of Israel would be sentenced to death or life imprisonment.  

Military courts

For military courts, the Minister of Defense would instruct the military commander to amend the relevant order applicable in the territories and change the procedures of the military courts, so that the death penalty would be a mandatory punishment for offenses involving causing death motivated by terrorism unless the court determines that special circumstances justify imposing a life sentence. 

The law also lowers the threshold required for imposing the death sentence in the military courts: a simple majority would suffice to impose the death penalty, rather than a unanimous decision, and judges will also no longer be required to hold the rank of lieutenant colonel or higher. 

The law also revokes the authority of the military commander to exercise discretion to pardon those convicted or to commute their sentences. 

Civilian courts within Israel 

For civilian courts within Israel, the proposal seeks to add the death penalty as a punishment for murder under aggravated circumstances of terrorism committed with the intent to deny the existence of the State of Israel. 

Sources:

https://www.english.acri.org.il/post/the-death-penalty-bill-q-a

https://supreme.court.gov.il/sites/en/Pages/Justices.aspx