Khaberni - The Israeli Knesset's National Security Committee approved yesterday, Tuesday, the bill for executing Palestinian prisoners after making amendments to it and transferring it for voting in the necessary second and third readings, according to the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation.
The Corporation reported an announcement by Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who initiated the bill with his party "Otzma Yehudit", stating that the law does not leave the decision authority in the hands of the government's legal advisor.
According to a statement from "Otzma Yehudit", the bill will be moved to its second and third readings in the Knesset next week.
The law primarily targets Palestinian prisoners accused of killing Israelis in actions described as having "nationalistic or security motives," which means it does not include Jewish prisoners accused of killing Palestinians, making it a discriminatory and racist law.
Amendments to the Law
A few days ago, the Knesset's National Security Committee introduced amendments to the bill for executing Palestinian prisoners.
The amendments were introduced to mitigate the harshness of the bill in response to pressure from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office, who believed the draft bill was harsher than U.S. death penalty standards and could expose Israel to diplomatic and legal scrutiny abroad, according to "The Times of Israel".
Details of the Law
The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation explained that the death penalty bill allows for sentencing even if not requested by the public prosecutor, and decisions can be made by a majority of judges without requiring unanimity.
According to the bill's version, the death penalty will be executed by hanging. The execution will be carried out by one of the prison guards appointed by the Commissioner of the Israeli Prison Service, with their identities kept confidential and full criminal immunity granted to them.
The Corporation added that convicted attackers would be held in a separate detention facility, and would only be allowed visits from authorized entities, while meeting their lawyers through video call only, without direct face-to-face interaction.
The bill also states that the execution must be carried out within a period of up to 90 days from the date of its issuance. The execution process will be attended by the prison director, a judicial authority representative, an official observer, and a delegate from the family of the person sentenced to death, according to the Broadcasting Corporation.
The Corporation noted that the final version of the bill removed references to the perpetrators of the October 7, 2023 attack, but focused on the powers of the public prosecutor.
The law differentiates between applying the death penalty to those Israel describes as "terrorists" in the West Bank, where the penalty is mandatory with the possibility of appealing the conviction decision without challenging the sentence itself, and other areas where the death penalty or life imprisonment can be imposed without the possibility of release in any future deal.
For years, Ben-Gvir has called for a law allowing the execution of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, and he has significantly tightened their detention conditions, amid human rights reports about the deterioration of their conditions and their exposure to torture and denial of basic rights.
In November last year, the Knesset voted in the first reading on the bill for executing Palestinian prisoners, and it still remains to be voted on in the second and third readings before it becomes an official law.
It is worth noting that the death penalty has been applied only once by the civil judiciary in Israel, to the Nazi Adolf Eichmann in 1962.
