The Knesset passed a highly controversial law mandating the death penalty for West Bank Palestinians convicted of carrying out deadly terror attacks on Monday.

Lawmakers voted 62-47 to mandate death by hanging as the default punishment for West Bank residents convicted of deadly terrorist acts by military courts. While judges can opt for life imprisonment under vaguely defined “special circumstances,” the death penalty would otherwise be mandatory and be carried out within 90 days of sentencing.

The vote marked a major victory for far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, whose Otzma Yehudit party has long championed the legislation and who immediately handed out champagne as members of the coalition celebrated its passage following nearly twelve hours of debate.

“This is a day of justice for the victims and a day of deterrence for our enemies. No more revolving door for terrorists, but a clear decision. Whoever chooses terrorism chooses death,” said a jubilant Ben Gvir, sporting the golden noose-shaped lapel pin he and other advocates of the measure have donned to symbolize their campaign for the death penalty.

The sentence would require a simple majority of judges rather than a unanimous decision, while eliminating any right of appeal.

Despite being promoted by its supporters as a response to the October 7 attacks, the law would not apply retroactively, including to the perpetrators of that 2023 Hamas-led onslaught, whose prosecution will be covered in a separate bill being advanced through the Knesset.

The law effectively enshrines capital punishment for Palestinians alone, as it explicitly excludes Israeli citizens or residents, and Palestinians alone are tried in military courts. Israelis are tried in civilian courts.

Though a separate provision allows courts to impose the death penalty on anyone, including Israeli citizens, it applies only to those who “intentionally cause the death of a person with the aim of denying the existence of the State of Israel” — a definition designed to exclude Jewish terrorists.

While the death penalty formally exists in Israeli law, it has been carried out only once — the 1962 execution of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann. Until now, Israeli courts could impose capital punishment only under extremely narrow circumstances and only with a unanimous decision from a panel of judges, a threshold that has never been met in terrorism cases.

Supporters of the law argue that the measure will strengthen deterrence against terrorism and reduce the incentive for terrorist organizations to abduct Israelis.

“We are not bloodthirsty and do not seek to kill; we are a people that sanctifies life, and precisely for that reason, we cannot allow ourselves to abandon lives,” said Otzma Yehudit MK Tzvika........

© The Times of Israel