A highly controversial law passed by the Knesset last month mandates the death penalty as the default sentence for West Bank Palestinians convicted of carrying out deadly terror attacks in the West Bank.

Israel’s legal code already contains the death penalty, though it is so rarely invoked that it has only ever been implemented a single time, against Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann (Meir Tobianski was executed as a traitor after a drumhead court martial in 1948, and exonerated a year later). In contrast, the new measure ensures the regular exercise of capital punishment, stripping judges of broad discretion in sentencing, neutering the appeals process and removing several procedural safeguards.

Legal scholars say the law, promoted by far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit party, contains serious constitutional defects, including violating the right to life, and is discriminatory in that it applies almost exclusively to Palestinians. In addition, experts argue, there is no proof that it would achieve its stated goal of deterring terrorism.

“I think it’s quite clear that the law is unconstitutional, especially due to the discriminatory element,” said Prof. Yaniv Roznai, a constitutional law expert at Reichman University.

While the law is being challenged in the High Court, legal experts say it is far from certain that the bench will strike it down in its entirety, given its traditionally cautious approach to intervening in national security matters and the extraordinary political and wartime context in which the legislation was passed. Parts of the measure, however, may still be annulled by the court.

At the same time, there are some who believe the law may be aimed from the start at provoking a politically advantageous fight with the court, with election season approaching.

Following the passage of the law just before the Knesset went on recess at the end of March, several opposition parties, along with several human rights organizations, announced they would petition the High Court to nullify it. Judges said there were no grounds to issue a temporary injunction freezing the legislation, but have instructed the state to submit a response to the petitions by May 24.

The petitioners, including Democrats MK Gilad Kariv and MKs from the Arab-majority Hadash-Ta’al party, and the Rabbis for Human Rights organization, are nonetheless “very confident” that the High Court will strike down the law, sources with knowledge of the matter told The Times of Israel.

“In principle, we’re opposed to the death penalty, but there are also so many legal issues that were ignored,” said Rabbi Avi Dabush, who leads Rabbis for Human Rights.

Both critics and supporters of the law note that it contains language that effectively enshrines capital punishment for Palestinians alone, explicitly excluding citizens or residents of Israel. It applies specifically to terrorism cases tried in military courts, the default venue for cases involving Palestinian suspects, rather than the civilian courts used to prosecute Israelis, including in the West Bank.

Though a separate provision allows the court to impose the death penalty on anyone, including........

© The Times of Israel