A new military order enabling the death penalty for convicted Palestinian terrorists in Judea and Samaria took effect on Sunday, following the signature of IDF Central Command chief Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth.

The move implements legislation approved by the Knesset on March 30, which mandates capital punishment for non-Israeli residents of Judea and Samaria convicted of deadly attacks, unless a military court determines that exceptional circumstances justify a life sentence instead.

The order was signed at the direction of Defense Minister Israel Katz, according to a joint statement issued by Katz’s office and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

The law was sponsored by Otzma Yehudit MK Limor Son Har-Melech, who was seriously wounded in a 2003 Palestinian attack that killed her husband.

Ben-Gvir welcomed the implementation of the order, saying it fulfilled a central pledge by his party.

“We promised and we delivered,” he said. “A terrorist who murders Jews must know that the outcome will not be a prisoner release deal, but the death penalty.”

He added that the measure reflected a broader shift in Israeli policy after the Hamas-led attacks of October 7, 2023. “The State of Israel is changing the equation,” Ben-Gvir said.

Katz echoed that message, saying convicted attackers should not expect to remain in prison while awaiting a future exchange deal.

“Terrorists who murder Jews will not sit in prison under comfortable conditions, will not wait for deals and will not dream of release — they will pay the heaviest price,” Katz said.

Supporters of the measure argue that it strengthens deterrence and closes a long-standing gap in Israel’s response to deadly attacks, particularly amid repeated prisoner-release negotiations.

Critics are expected to challenge the policy on legal, diplomatic and moral grounds, especially given its application through the military court system in Judea and Samaria.

Israel has historically made extremely limited use of capital punishment. Although Israeli law has long permitted the death penalty in cases involving Nazi crimes, treason and certain wartime offenses, it has been carried out only twice: against IDF officer Meir Tobianski in 1948, who was later exonerated, and Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann in 1962.

Want more news from Israel?
Click Here to sign up for our FREE daily email updates