Britain has joined European allies in condemning a draft Israeli law which would make the death penalty the default punishment for West Bank Palestinians convicted of murdering Israelis.
In a joint declaration, the UK, Germany, France and Italy said the proposed legislation would “significantly expand the possibilities for imposing the death penalty”.
Calling the scheme, which Israel’s Knesset began debating on Monday “de facto discriminatory”, the statement said if it becomes law, “Israel risks undermining its commitments to democratic principles”.
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The death penalty “is an inhumane and degrading form of punishment without any deterrent effect”, adding that rejecting it “is a fundamental value that unites us”, the four nations said.
Should it pass, the new law would be a triumph for Israel’s far right, and especially minister of national security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has campaigned for tougher punishments for Palestinians convicted of nationalistic offences against Israelis.
Opponents of the idea, under which executions should be carried out within 90 days of sentencing, say it is racist, draconian and unlikely to deter attacks by Palestinian militants.
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The legislation calls for the death penalty to go into effect within 30 days.
The bill’s critics include Israelis and Palestinians, international rights groups and the UN, some of whom fear the death penalty could end up being applied solely to Palestinians convicted of murdering Jewish citizens of Israel.
Under the proposal, the sentence will be applied by a military court to anyone convicted of murdering an Israeli “as an act of terror”.
Such courts try only West Bank Palestinians, who are not Israeli citizens. The bill says military courts can change the penalty to life imprisonment in “special circumstances”.
Israel’s courts, which try Israeli citizens, including Palestinian citizens of Israel, can choose between life imprisonment or the death penalty in cases of murder aiming to harm Israeli citizens and residents or “with the intent of rejecting the existence of the state of Israel”.
Amichai Cohen, a senior fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute’s Centre for Democratic Values and Institutions, said the distinction is discriminatory as it means, in effect, Jews “will not be indicted under this law”.
In addition, the West Bank is not sovereign Israeli territory, so under international law, Israel’s parliament should not be legislating over it, Mr Cohen said.
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Israel has the death penalty on its books, but the country hasn’t put anyone to death since Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann in 1962.
The bill will not apply retroactively to any of the militants Israel currently holds who attacked the country on 7 October 2023.
