On March 30, 2026, the Knesset passed the law expanding the death penalty for terrorists by a vote of 62 to 48. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came personally to the parliament to vote in favor. The law provides that in certain cases the death penalty may be imposed — and in the biblical heartland of Judea and Samaria even by military courts, meaning without the extremely high barriers that existed until now. According to the law, executions are to be carried out within 90 days, normally by hanging. At the same time, the requirement for unanimous judicial approval was abolished and replaced by a simple majority of judges.
Prestige project
With this, Itamar Ben-Gvir succeeded in pushing through one of his ideological prestige projects. The national security minister presented the vote as a historic victory and declared before the vote: “From today, every terrorist will know that anyone who takes a life will have his life taken by the State of Israel.”
After the...
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