Yossi Schwartz ISL (RCIT Section in Israel/Occupied Palestine) 11.11.2025
While Gaza is being blown up every day, and women and children are killed. Settlers and the Zionist army attack Palestinians in the West Bank every day. The Zionist Knesset passed the first reading of the law for the execution of resistance fighters captured by Israel.
Amira Hess, a veteran journalist for Haaretz, writes: “A person leaves Nablus for Hebron, how long will the journey take? It turns out that in the West Bank, the answer to the question depends on the day, time, and whims of the IDF. The lost time for the Palestinians, estimated at hundreds of thousands of hours a week, is worth not only money, but also the lives of patients in need of a hospital.” [i]
On November 3, the Knesset’s National Security Committee approved for first reading the “Death Penalty for Terrorists” bill by Knesset member Limor Son Har-Melech. The Knesset approved the “Death Penalty for Terrorists Law” in its first reading on Monday night. Thirty-nine Knesset members supported the bill, and 16 opposed it; it will be returned to the National Security Committee for further discussion. Knesset members from the Likud, Religious Zionism, Yisrael Beitenu, and Otzma Yehudit voted in favor of the proposal, while Knesset members from Degel HaTorah, Labor, Hadash-Ta’al, and Ra’am voted against it. Not a single Knesset member from Shas, Yesh Atid, and Blue and White was present at the vote. After the law was approved, Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir distributed baklava and knafeh in the plenum.
“MKs Yaakov Asher and Uri Maklev of the Degel HaTorah party voted against the bill, after Rabbi Dov Landau, the spiritual leader of the Degel HaTorah faction, instructed members of the faction to vote against the law before the vote. Rabbi Landau’s explanation for his order reads: “There is a persecutive fear here. If the Arabs all over the world see that we are doing such a thing, it could cause bloodshed,” he said, adding, “In any case, there is no chance that a court will approve the death penalty, so it is a provocation for its own sake.” [ii]
The death penalty has been abolished in almost all Western imperialist countries, with the notable exception of some states in the United States. It was canceled for a variety of reasons, first and foremost, because studies have not proven that it contributes to deterrence at all, especially when it comes to fighters who take a significant risk with their lives.
Another significant reason is that, in the event of a mistake (and no system is immune to errors), it cannot be corrected; instead, it is mainly canceled because of the contempt it conveys towards the value of life.
As if that were not enough, the proposed proposal is much more serious, since it seeks to impose the death penalty as a mandatory punishment. This means that the court has no discretion in sentencing, something that does not exist in any Western country, not even in the United States, or even in the law on the prosecution of Nazis in Israel.
Moreover, the punishment will be imposed in circumstances “in which the act was motivated by racism or hostility towards the public, and with the aim of “harming the State of Israel and the revival of the Jewish people in its land.” Hence, Israel is seeking not to impose the death penalty on “terrorists” but rather to impose the death penalty on Arab fighters, since Jewish terrorists do not intend to “harm the State of Israel and the revival of the Jewish people in its land.”
Such a law would add to the picture of Israel, which is hated in the world. The death penalty on the basis of racism would add a solid basis to the claim that Israel is employing selective racist legislation. The bill is also intended to make it easier to impose the death penalty in the West Bank, including making it a punishment with no possibility of mitigation at all, an act that contradicts international law that applies to the territories occupied in 1967.
Moreover, on the death penalty for Palestinian fighters against the occupation and oppression of the Palestinian people, when the day comes when the red Palestinian state is established from the sea to the river, there will be an appropriate punishment for the Zionist leaders who support the death penalty for freedom fighters whom terrorist Israel calls terrorists.
Endnotes:
[i] https://www.haaretz.co.il/news/magazine/2025-11-05/ty-article-magazine/.premium/0000019a-4e71-dda1-a99e-cff5a3190000
[ii] https://www.haaretz.co.il/news/politics/2025-11-10/ty-article/.premium/0000019a-6c87-dd82-a59a-fcd7af6f000