Europe Should Sanction Israeli MPs Who Just Passed Racist Death Penalty Law Targeting Palestinians
The law cleared on Monday (March 30) by the Knesset mandates the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of lethal acts of terrorism under Israeli criminal and military law, while excluding Jews convicted of killing Palestinians. The law is appalling, yet it represents a natural continuation of Israel’s evolution into a single, murderous apartheid state on both sides of the Green Line – within its sovereign territory and in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Beyond the fact that the death penalty should have long been abolished worldwide, the approved law clearly violates multiple provisions of international conventions binding on Israel. These include, among others: the Regulations annexed to the Hague Convention (IV) on respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land (1907); the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (1949); the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966); the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (1984); and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (1966) (CERD).
The implementation of this law would constitute war crimes and, potentially, crimes against humanity, as defined under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (1998).
The new law represents a dramatic formal shift. Before its enactment, the death penalty existed under military legislation in the occupied Palestinian territories since 1967, subject to specific conditions, but it was never applied in practice due to government policy. Within Israel itself, only a few offences carry the death penalty, and it has been imposed only twice since the state’s founding: in 1948, against an Israel Defence Forces (IDF) officer accused of passing information to the enemy, and later against the Nazi criminal Adolf Eichmann.
However, even prior to this law, extrajudicial executions were practiced. Israeli security forces’ rules of engagement often violated international law and soldiers, police officers or civilians who killed Palestinian were granted near-total criminal and civil immunity. Criminal investigations were opened in only a small fraction of cases and convictions were exceedingly rare.
The new law mandating the death penalty on a racial basis sends a clear message to the Israeli public that Palestinian lives are of no value, and provides encouragement and legitimacy to Israeli civilians, soldiers and police officers to execute Palestinians even without any judicial process. In other words, the new law will both encourage and formalise an existing practice.
In recent decades, when Israeli governments adopted policies or laws violating international law, the European Union and the United Kingdom issued condemnations that were largely symbolic, often waiting for the Supreme Court to intervene in the hope of invalidation.
Given the law’s obvious flaws – even under Israeli law – the Supreme Court might be expected to strike it down wholly or partially. Yet, intense government pressure on the judiciary and a campaign inciting against justices – blaming them for the events of October 7 and accusing them of supporting terrorism – make this outcome uncertain.
Historically, Supreme Court justices have often acted as a “rubber stamp” for government and security policies in the occupied territories. Particularly since October 7, the Court has upheld policies amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, the West Bank and prisons.
Also read: Hundreds of Palestinians in Israeli Prisons Launch Hunger Strike
Even if the court eventually strikes down the law, its passage normalises the notion of executing Palestinians within Israeli society. Legislative debates accompanying its approval included broad campaigns by Knesset members and political parties inciting against the Palestinian population and legitimizing executions. Some members even wore pins depicting a golden noose, and after the law’s approval, the minister and party leader who spearheaded it, Itamar Ben-Gvir, raised a bottle of champagne in the Knesset plenum.
While the primary responsibility for establishing a single apartheid regime across both sides of the Green Line rests with Israeli citizens, the pattern of international condemnations – unaccompanied by meaningful consequences – has significantly contributed to the escalation and deterioration for which Palestinians pay daily with their lives, their bodies, and their property.
In 2022, the European Union and the United Kingdom imposed sanctions on members of the Russian State Duma who voted to recognise the separatist republics in Donetsk and Luhansk.
Similarly, on behalf of the Israeli human rights organisations and movements 'Combatants for Peace', 'Windows – Channels for Communication' and 'Jordan Valley Activists', I submitted an appeal urging the EU and the UK to immediately add to their sanctions lists all 62 members of the Knesset who supported yesterday the racist bill mandating the death penalty solely for Palestinians.
If condemnations of the new law fail to produce any tangible consequences for decision-makers in Israel, they will understand that they once again have a green light to accelerate violent and unlawful measures against Palestinians.
Eitay Mack is an Israeli human rights lawyer and activist who exposes Israel’s role in the Sri Lankan civil war and has pursued legal action in Israel.
This article went live on March thirty-first, two thousand twenty six, at twenty-eight minutes past ten at night.The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.
